Gesprekken
by yvj
Summary: Sometimes they're shallow, Sometimes they're deep. They can be meaningful or inconsequential. But when they're shared between soul mates they're always special. K/R fluff
1. Gesprekken

A/N Ok Finals are over and I'm starting to hit the old keyboard again. This idea for this story practically came to me in the middle of a Macroeconomics test that I hopefully passed. Anyway this story's got no real plot, it just jumps around through different periods of time grabbing different conversation I think Kim and Ron would have during the course of their relationship addressing various subjects. Some of them tie together some of them don't.

Enjoy the fluff...Oh and Gesprekken (the title) is Dutch for conversation. This is not a one shot

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** Clapping Game**

"Down, down, baby, down by the roller coaster."

It was a quiet summer day that was slowly but surely shifting to a lazy summer night, and as always at this time of day six year old Kim Possible and her best friend Ron Stoppable could be found in Ron's tree house. They sat across from each other in the lotus position engaged in a well practiced clapping game.

"Down, down, baby, down by the roller coaster. Sweet, sweet baby, I'll never let you go."

Together they clapped each other's hands, as well as performing other activities such as knee slapping, all in a rhythmic fashion while reciting the rhyme.

"Down, down, baby, down by the roller coaster. Sweet, sweet baby, I'll never let you go."

Ron stopped mid clap. "Why are we doing this?"

Kim looked up at him "Huh?"

"What is the point of this?" Ron waved his hand about in a melodramatic fashion.

"It's a game."

"Yeah it's a game… but what is it for? Every other game we play proves something. Tag separates the fast kids from the slow. Hop scotch focuses on the balanced and weeds out the clumsy. Jumping jacks highlights those that have the stamina and reflexes to survive the jungle law of the playground…..but this…..what does this prove? What's the deeper meaning?"

Kim shrugged. "It's just fun….Ron sometimes you say weird things."

"If I don't say this stuff; who will?" Ron inquired as Kim picked herself off the floor. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I thought you didn't want to play anymore. I was going to get the Monopoly board."

Ron shook his head and smiled. "Just because I don't understand it, doesn't mean I'm not having fun."

Kim rolled her eyes, sighed and sat back down. "Okay, where were we?"

"I think…uh…..down, down baby," Ron replied.

Kim placed her hands up. "Okay, here we go."

"Down, down, baby, down by the roller coaster. Sweet, sweet baby, I'll never let you go!"

**Current time line: Ten years before the Junior Prom; Current Status: Best Friends Forever; Current mood: K&R Content **

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**Trapped**

So what you're saying is that we're stuck?" Ron said as he attempted to separate himself from Kim.

Kim struggled herself; to no available. She groaned, they were currently trapped in an air vent, face to face, no more than a half an inch between them.

"I told you the vent was beginning to narrow, but you just had to try and brush past me."

"I don't see why I always have to bring up the rear, I mean I don't mind the view from the back but I think I deserve to lead every once in awhile. In fact I think I've earned the right." Ron stated

She hoped in the dim light of the vent that he could see how narrow her eyes were as she glared daggers at him.

"Okay," he said, getting the message, "I thought I felt something rat-like gnawing at my calf. My right calf! If it was my left no big but my right, I can't take any chances."

"Well the bad guys have obviously moved out, we'll just have to wait here for Wade to get help."

"Wade is sure taking his sweet time with that."

"At least we've got Rufus waiting out by the entrance; he'll lead whoever's coming right to us."

To Kim's chagrin Ron began to rock back and forth. "Ron stop messing around, you might cause the vent to collapse."

"Recklessness got me into this mees. I was hoping it would get me out." He sighed. "Oh well, eighteen years isn't that long but it was a good life," he said whimsically.

"What? You're being a tad extreme don't ya think?"

"I should have told my mother I don't want a funeral...I don't want people lying about me...Oh we knew him well...No one really knows me, cept you KP. Sometimes I still freak my parents out." Ron paused. "But now that I'm thinking about it, who really wants the truth to be told at their funeral, people might start saying stuff they wouldn't say to your face….. I can hear it now, "that Stoppable, I always hated him that loser."

"Ron, you've been really acting strange---er than usual these past few days."

She saw him turn his eyes away from her. "Since we've got so little time left, we might as well get everything out in the open," he said. "You got any secrets you want to tell me?"

_What is he getting at now?_

"Secrets? What are you talking about?"

"Oh I don't know," he said his eyes wandering everywhere but near her face, "something about a certain former classmate of ours wrapping himself around you like a squid with Velcro tentacles!'

"Are we in the same conversation here? I think I might be missing something vital here."

"I'm talking about that smooth daddy, no, no I should say uneven mommy Kevin 'free the weasel' Smiley hugging up on you last weekend!"

"Who told you that?" She said suspiciously.

"KP, I have eyes, and ears everywhere."

"Felix?"

Ron hesitated, "No."

"While we were _shopping,_ Monique and I ran into him near the Orange Julius, we talked for like fifteen minutes."

Ron licked his lips. "Okay, it was Felix, but that's beside the point alright."

"So what is the point? What exactly did Felix say?"

He said and I quote. "I saw Kevin walk up to Kim and give her a hug," It was Ron's turn to narrow his eyes. "Are you going to deny it?"

"No, that's exactly what happened. I waved hello and he came over and hugged me."

Ron groaned out loud. "Oh why didn't you just deny it? I was so willing to go into denial."

"Ron, amp down, it was just a hug okay. It didn't mean anything to me at all."

"What kind of hug was it? Was it the kind where you slowly rub the lower part of each other's back in a circular motion?"

"Nooooo!"

"Okay," he said balking a bit at her sudden outburst. "But was it like a Monique hug or did it have an extra squeeze to it?"

Kim thought back to that afternoon. She remembered being a bit uncomfortable for a second or so before the hug broke. "Well..." she trailed off.

Ron moaned woefully. "Oh man, he's totally scheming on you. I so hate this guy. He's like fly paper for chicks, some kind of booty paper. I don't even know if such a thing exists, but if it does, he's just like it!"

"What did you want me to do, ignore him?"

"Not a bad idea," he said, "give him the old Alaskan shoulder."

She shook her head. "We've known him for four years. Don't you think me ignoring him would be just a little rude?"

"Actually what's rude was him eye copulating you from across the room at Monique's party two months ago."

"Eye copulating? …….Anyway I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at the party."

"Oh but I did, I saw him, and he wasn't the only one, there were many a wandering eye at that party. They didn't think I saw but I did. Oh yes I saw, I see everything---"

His paranoid rambling was suddenly cut off when a pair off cherry flavored lips made contact with his own. While definitely abrupt and unexpected, it was far, far from a terrible experience.

Ron sighed happily when the kiss broke. "What was that about, not that I'm complaining?"

"I'm trying to bring you out of this haze of paranoid delusions you've lost yourself in. And since my hands are currently trapped by my knees, I can't smack you out of it so I decided to go with plan B."

'While your kisses are sweeter than Betty Crocker, I can't ignore the fact that…….."

A second kiss once again caused his brain to cease functioning.

"Well?" Kim said as she pulled away from him again. She smiled contently as he smacked his lips.

"There was a little tongue action this time," he said through a grin and deep breaths.

"Are you willing to listen to me now?"

She saw him take her question into consideration. "Uh…..no…I uh don't think I'm quite right yet."

As if that was her cue she happily moved in for another kiss, a deeper one this time with more passion then one would have imagined. Even she was surprised when she found herself biting tenderly on his bottom lip as the kiss broke.

"So you're willing to hear me out now right?"

A gratified "hmmmm?" was the only reply she received from her glassy eyed B.F.

"Good, listen closely."

"Uh…..huh..."

"Ron, even if Kevin is "scheming" on me, it doesn't matter because nothing will happen. I'm with you, and I couldn't be happier."

"Yeah?"

"You and me Ron, that's how it's always been, and no one's going to get in the way of that, ever."

Ron shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I got little carried away there. KP, I've seen some miraculous things in my life, like people receiving magic powers form monkey statues, but us getting together its downright biblical."

"Then you should have more faith in us," she told him as she nuzzled her nose against his cheek. "Although I've got to admit you are cute when you're jellin."

She froze when she felt something rigid bump against her hands which were pinned precariously beneath her waist and with that also beneath Ron's.

"Ron," she said stretching out his name.

"Kim, it was hard enough to control before the kisses…………..I know it's a bit awkweird right now but if we ignore it, it'll………It'll just go away on it's own."

Kim couldn't help but blush profusely. "You know you could have at least given me a heads up….I mean a warning, a warning," she said quickly. "A little bit of warning would have been nice."

"KP," Ron muttered as his eyes once again wandered here and there avoiding her gaze, "let's just drop it, right now it's out of my hands."

A rather impulsive thought suddenly blossomed in Kim's mind. The mischievous grin on her face could have been seen from space. "It may be out of _your_ hands; but my hands are close enough to help out."

She couldn't keep from chuckling as Ron chocked on his own breath.

"Kim please," he said through quick gasps, "don't joke around like that. It's not really helping the situation…." He stopped to study her face. "You…….were…joking right?" He said now certain that he hadn't imagined her hand brushing really, really, close to his leg.

**Current time line: One year one month after the Junior Prom; Current Status Couple; Current mood: K: Frisky R: Thankful **

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**Chick Flick **

Kim placed her index finger to her lips. "Shhhhh," she said as she attempted to stifle a giggle. Then she turned her attention to the tiny cell phone that she now held in her hand.

Suddenly Ron's voice wafted loudly through the phone. "Kim, can you tell me the name of that movie again?"

"Oh," said her face a few inches from the cell, "have you changed your mind?"

"Heck no, I just want to make sure I don't accidentally walk into that mess when we go to the theater later."

"I really think you should reconsider. You might love the Bridges of Jefferson County."

"No way KP, I've filled my quota of romantic movies for the year. I can't believe I let you drag me to that last one."

"What," she feigned surprise, "I thought you liked 'Billy, Jesse and Me'?"

"Uh, I think dislike is the right word for how I felt….It was the worst western I've ever seen; Billy the Kid didn't even shoot anybody. He just talked about his feelings the whole time. What kind of cowboy talks about his feelings? Not the kind of cowboys I like anyway."

"I thought the story was sort of sweet. You really didn't like it?"

"Uh duh, I'm a dude; I'm unable to like that kind of stuff because of my Y chromosomes, its basic genetics Kim….It's science! I'm sorry but that movie had me stuck in pit of boredoom for two and a half hours.

"Boredoom?"

It's like boredom except ten times worse. It's when you're so bored you start wishing the world will end just so something exciting would happen!"

A snicker

"Shhhhh!"

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Kim said quickly. "You know what Ron, you make a good point. Now that I think about it, the movie was kind of disappointing, the ending was sooooo weak." She sighed "I just wish we could have found out if Jesse really loved Martha or not."

A brief silence from the other line

"Looking back on it he probably didn't. She was out of his league anyway."

"Uh…I'd have to disagree."

"Hmmm I thought the movie bored you?"

"Well, the parts I saw when I was awake, it looked pretty obvious to me that he dug her. As for her being out of his league….."

"Nah, I think what he felt for her was closer to lust than love."

"Um, are you forgetting about the part where he was watching her riding away with Billy on the plains? He so looked like he was about to cry, it's got to be some powerful emotions to make a cowboy cry."

"Eh I don't know. If he REALLY wanted to be with her, he should have said something."

"But…… she was going with Billy, his best friend, he didn't want to mess up the friendship between them…..and besides Martha always treated him kind of like a brother most of the times until the end where….uh never mind."

"Maybe," Kim said flippantly, "if he was a little more romantic and less awkward, then he would have had a chance."

"Okay, he wasn't Casanova, but he had his moments. What about the time he gave her that prairie flower?"

"What about it?"

"I mean, you didn't like that scene, when the sun was shining and she was smiling …."

"Actually, I thought that whole scene was kind of useless."

"Useless? I uh... okay whatever."

"Hmmmm?"

"Nothing."

"Come on tell me," she persisted.

"Well…..I thought….I happened to have just woken up for the third time by the way….."

"Uh-huh, keep going, you thought what?"

"I kind of... you know I sort of assumed you felt the same about the scene, that's the vibe I was getting from you at the time…..Anyway I thought it was roma…" he forced a cough.

"You thought it was what?"

"Oh, I said annoying……annoying."

"Okay," she said slyly. "It's actually just as well that Jesse didn't love Martha, because she didn't really care for him much either."

"What? I was asleep and I could still tell that even when she was with Billy she always looked the happiest when Jesse was around. She just didn't understand her feelings throughout most of the movie"

"Are you sure?"

"Totally, and did you forget what happened at the end?"

"The end?" Kim said her smile growing by the second. "I don't really remember, did anything really happen at the end?"

"Were you even in the theater? At the end when she was watching him ride away and she was standing on the porch and it was all bittersweet, and then she started narrating…."

"Narrating?"

"Yes, she was all like "_Though our hearts now belong to others. Jesse and I would always dream of what might have been between us. Unfortunately not only did we miss the boat but the tide as well."_

Kim did her best not to sound impressed. "You remembered that whole line?"

Ron coughed again. "No, no I was just para---para..."

"Paraphrasing? Actually I think you repeated it verbatim."

"Well I wouldn't say that."

"Oh? I would…..Ron I'm not sure we're talking about the same movie here. I've seen a lot of romantic movies and I'm leaning towards the idea that those two had nothing going on between them."

"How could you say that? The secret glances, holding their breaths when they were near each other. They were soul mates. The movie played it out beautifully in all its glorious bitter sweetness. It truly gives new meaning to the phrase 'You never know what you've got until it's gone'. The concepts and the feelings expressed in this film hit so hard to home that it felt as though we were seeing our own lives played out on screen. How did you not see this? Huh? …I…..I don't even know who you are anymore!"

"Amp down Ron," Kim began to giggle, her laughter joined by another, and yet another.

"Hey is someone else there…that sounds like….Kim why do you sound so far…..Am I on the speaker phone?"

"Aww Ron," Monique said as she snatched the phone from Kim, "I didn't know you were such a romantic. It's so cute."

"I…NO. I hated the movie, it didn't have any explosions or motorcycles, or……or lumberjacks."

"It was so sweet, he must have been really into it," Tara chuckled.

"I told you he loved it. He was on the edge of his seat throughout the whole movie and then when it was over, he pretended he hated it," Kim told them.

"Oh God, if Felix hears about this..."

"Don't worry your blond little head Don Ron, your secrets safe with us," Monique teased, "but I don't know why you're so upset. I'd love to have a BF with such a sugary sweet side."

Ron groaned loudly.

Tara grinned. "You're a lucky girl Kim."

"Natch," she replied. "Ronnie you're not angry are you? I was just teasing," she said innocently.

"I'm not exactly on cloud nine at the moment."

"I'll tell you what, how about if I come by your place with some honey flavored popcorn and a copy of Bricks of Fury, the uncensored unrated directors cut."

"And?"

"Annnnnnnd I'll give you some apology kisses," she replied with a dash of allure sprinkled in.

The others girls chuckled again.

There was another brief pause. "Okay, that's sounds pretty good," he said eventually.

"Okay, I'll see you around eight-ish."

"Badical."

"Oh and Ron, By the way I'm really happy that we didn't miss our boat or our tide."

"Um…" Ron mumbled something inaudible.

"What was that?" said a smug and more than slightly amused Kim.

"I…ditto."

Click

He hung up quickly, leaving the girls to snicker amongst themselves.

**Current time line: Four months after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple; Current mood: K: Amused R: Slightly embarrassed **

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**First of many**

Kim cleared her throat….forcing Ron to pull his gaze from the star lit sky. They stood alone on the Possible's front porch. Kim shuffled her feet across the floor as Ron nervously tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"So what are you thinking?" She said anxiously.

"Ah, what just happened just now, was that a date?"

She gave him of look of bemusement. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we just kind of hung out like normal, like when we were just friends."

"That's true."

"I don't know, I just," he stammered, "I mean we used to hang out at the mall and stuff all the time together….Did, did you think that was like a date-date."

Kim nodded. "It did feel a little different than before, yeah I think we can call it a date-date."

"Oh," he then smiled, "okay."

"Most of the stuff we do together from now on would be considered dating since we're a couple."

"Yeah," Ron hiccuped; he tried to hide the pleasure he got from her saying the word couple. "We're a couple…… that is indeed what we are."

There was a pause for a few seconds as they both stared at each other.

"So what's next?"

Ron wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. "I think I want to kiss you."

Kim straightened up. "You think?"

"No, I know I want to kiss you, that's what people do at the end of dates right?" He said letting the question linger in the air.

"I guess so, but you don't really have to if you don't want to. You're not obligated…."

"No, no I want to," he said quickly. "It's just that..."

"Just what?"

"Well I had planned this whole thing where the second you stepped on the porch I was going to kind of grab you, softly of course, by the arm and like maybe dip you a little but um, you walked a little faster than I had anticipated and it just threw off my timing."

"Uh-huh, I can see where that would frustrate you." As quick as a rattle snake she reached out, took his hand and pulled him closer.

Now less than an arms length away Ron found that his feet were no longer glued to the floor. And his quiet fear had transformed into a deep and mounting anticipation.

They were close enough to stare at their reflections in the pools of each others eyes. "This is really happening, we're dating."

"Yep," Ron said as he closed his eyes and tiled his head forward. "Are you still sure about this?"

"I've never been surer about anything ever." She tilted her head forward as well to meet his. Their lips softly and tenderly brushed past each others just as the porch light suddenly began to rapidly flicker on and off.

Ron pulled away as visions of objects with gravitational fields so powerful they captured light and cut off regions of space, began to dance in his head.

"Maybe I should go."

Kim noticed the shadow of what could only be her father at the window "Yeah that might be a good idea."

"I'll catch ya later KP," Ron said as he quickly made his way off the porch.

"Ron," she called out after him, "that was a, that was a really spankin first date," she beamed.

"Oh no doubt, I thought there were a lot of booyah moments myself," he grinned. "So uh tomorrow, do we pick up where we….. left off?"

She gave him a look that seemed to say. "What do you think?"

**Current time line: One week after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Newbie Couple; Current mood: K&R: Anxious, a bit confused, giddy, and optimistic. **

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**It's over?**

As Ron lay back down on his bed, he placed a fresh ice pack onto his shoulder and then adjusted his left arm in the shoulder sling. Feeling relatively comfortable, he used his free hand to turn on the radio on his night stand. Ron inhaled and exhaled; nothing like a little nerd-core hip hop to cure what ails you.

"_**I'm a snuggle bear, write poetry and blog a lot, in a hurry for a birdie I can snog a lot. I'm the kinda guy that you should get to know. Give you a neck message, make your (bleep) explode. I like pop punk, hip-hop and NPR. If I had a Huffy, you could ride the handlebars. Got some battle scars but that means I survived. Now I'm lookin' for a lady to walk by my side. Better like Boy meets World and Lost. Gotta have a little bit of soul, no WASPs. Red hair helps, keep those hips on lock. No fatties, no fuglies, I only hunt fox."**_

Ron pushed the pause button stopping the track. He was sure he had heard something, a light rapping at his windows. He waited in silence for a moment but everything was eerily quiet. He shrugged and turned the music back on.

"_You know Naked Mole Rat was better than decent. Maybe I should give the rap game a shot."_

Ron stopped the song again. This time he had heard something. Someone was throwing pebbles at his bedroom window. He slid out of his bed and shuffled towards the window. He popped it open and stuck his head out, and was surprised by who he saw out in there in the darkness of his backyard. 

"Kim?"

"It's about time," she said "What took you so long?"

"KP, I know you're all about the gender reversal thing but you really don't have to go out of your way to serenade me."

"I'm not here to sing, I want to talk to you….we need to talk."

"Oh," he said with just a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Okay, but just for the record I really like that song Kiss from a Rose and…."

"Just come to the tree house," she told him.

A minute or so later, Ron pulled himself up into his tree house. "KP, if you wanted to talk to me; why didn't you call me on the phone?"

She didn't answer right away. "I don't know I just sort of rushed over. I guess I really wanted to see you."

Ron didn't know what the problem was but he could tell she was visibly upset.

"How's your arm?" she asked.

He glanced down at it "It's alright, so what are we going on a mission or something?"

"About that, I think we should stop…."

Ron's face turned grim. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Nooooo," she slapped her forehead. "Why is that every time I say we need to talk, you immediately think I'm breaking up with you?"

"Well….when does anyone ever say "we need to talk" and it's ended up being a good thing? You always look so serious when you say it. Maybe, it wouldn't hurt for you to smile while you're saying it, a few jokes beforehand to break the tension."

"When I was talking about stopping I meant us not going on anymore missions."

"What why? But saving the world is your thing….it's….it's your thing," he repeated.

"I know but I had this dream tonight…..it was about our last missions, but this time you didn't just hurt your arm. You got hurt, bad."

Ron shifted uncomfortably. "How bad?"

He saw a single tear drop from her eye and cascade down her cheek.

"Oh.…..that's pretty bad." He sighed "Hey, I thought panderoo was supposed to keep nightmares away," he joked. "Maybe its time to replace…."

"And the worst part was," Kim interrupted with a sniff, "your ghost blamed me for what happened to you."

"What a jerk, he obviously wasn't a friendly ghost."

Kim sniffed again.

"You know like Casper."

She was silent

"Casper the friendly ghost"

"I know who Casper is," she said angrily. "Ron, I've decided we're not going on any more missions."

_This dream really got to her. _"Oh come on, didn't we go through this with the actuary thing?"

"You went through it; I'm the one who continued to selfishly drag you across the world into dangerous situations."

"So who's going to save people if you don't?"

"There are other options, G.J and Team Impossible, uh Team Go."

"You're going to leave the world to those guys? Shego will cut through them like they were butter on the sun!"

She shook her head vigorously. "No, I've made up my mind."

"Wow I'm going to have to be the mature one here?" He slid over to her and wrapped his one good arm around her. "Let's not make quick decisions here. Okay I got hurt this time, fine but you've got to have faith in me Kim. I can still watch your back."

"Ron, I know you can do fine out there, even on your own. It's not about how capable you are. But that dream…it….was….I just don't want to take the chance."

"Earth to Kim, you're all about chance taking."

She allowed herself to be wrapped up in his arm by snuggling into the embrace. "Not this time, the risk is too great."

Ron reflected on the situation for a moment "I don't think you can do it," he said eventually.

"What?"

"I don't think you can give it up. Saving people is part of who you are, it's in your blood like some kind of weird benevolent mutant microbe coursing through your veins."

"Ron, it's over. I've made up my mind."

"I honestly think I'll run into a unicorn before you really quit."

"I said I'm quitting, that means I'm quitting. Please respect my decision."

He nodded. "Okay, I respect it…….just promise me when Wade calls that you won't go solo."

"Ron, I'm serious."

'Cuz I'll still watch your back no matter what. One arm, two arms, hunchback it doesn't matter I'll be there for you"

"This isn't a joke; this is life and death we're talking about here!"

"It's always been life and death Kim, since we started this thing! Anyway I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"That's beside the point. No one plans on dying, it just happens; I don't want to see you get hurt again or worse."

"It'll be fine, trust me."

She looked over her shoulders at him. "I don't think you get how important you are to me!" she practically shouted at him. "I'm thinking about our future."

_Whoa, our future? _

Kim turned away from the speechless Ron. He did a quick look around the tree house, reflecting on the countless games they had played here as children. The memories were vague and fleeting; why did it now seem like they happened so long ago? So much had changed yet stayed the same over the years. The one main constant was that they were together.

"I've been thinking about the future a little too," he felt her body tense up in his arms and then suddenly relax. "When you're a little kid or a guy filled with "child like wonder", you don't really see a future. Or actually, you don't think about it, but lately I can't help but do just that."

She turned to face him waiting for him to finish.

"And I can't imagine a possible future without a certain Possible in it."

"So what are you trying to say?"

"Wow, you're really putting me on the spot huh? Maybe what I'm saying is that I would like to be with you…..forever…..if that's okay with you of course."

"No its not"

He froze.

'Forever isn't long enough," she said practically glowing with happiness.

"God that was so corny," Ron replied happily as she then leaned in for a kiss.

"Watch the arm," Ron muttered a second before the lips locked together into a passionate kiss. They followed the kiss up with a tight embrace with Kim resting her head on his shoulders.

Ron let out a breath. "You haven't kissed me like that since that night in the vents a few months ago."

A tinge of red sprouted on both sides of her cheeks.

"Getting trapped in that vent turned out to be a real _sticky_ situation all right."

The tinge of red slowly traveled up her entire face.

Still locked in their embrace Ron gave her a little squeeze. "How selfish of me I don't think I ever "paid you back" for that."

Her face was presently beet red. "Wait, I didn't expect anything…I was…it was a spur of the moment thing…are you serious?" she stammered.

Ron tilted this head slightly to the side an impish look on his face. "I don't exactly hear you saying no."

"I..." she continued to stutter from embarrassment but as they both soon realizes, Ron especially, that she didn't exactly bother or even attempt to look like she was trying to break out of their hug. The reality was it got tighter.

**Current time line: One year two months after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple; Current mood: K&R: Love? **

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There you go folks hope you enjoyed. The rap song is from Nerdcore rapper (yea it exists) MC Chris' Arulaprgasam. 

Obviously I'm still getting back into a writing groove, trying to find that "zone". Now for those who care I shall be trying to update my stories as frequently as I can over the next few weeks.

Here's what I'm pretty sure will be my updating schedule.

1) Middlewood (Already finished the first section)

2) Wedding Bells

3) New one shot titled Eternal Sunshine of the Ronless Mind

4) Used to be a Hero.

Yea that should be my next four updates though two and three may flip depending on how the mood of my life is at the time ;)


	2. Convo 2

**A/N **Welcome folks, as you may know this story is just a series of conversations I think Kim and Ron would have during the course of their relationship (platonic or romantic) addressing various subjects. Some of them I decided will tie together specifically but most of them won't.

I got some great feed back for the first chapter of this story so I'm really happy about that. This is one of my favs as well

Enjoy

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**All Nighter:**

Another loud groan forced Ron to peek up from his science textbook. He found that he was no longer in a dark pit of boredom but back in Kim's room sitting on the floor beside her bed, of which she lay on surrounded by books.

She stared down into a calculus textbook, frustration written all over her face "Arrgggghhh"

Ron glanced at the clock. It was finale's week and he was pretty sure Kim had gotten less than ten hours sleep in the past two days.

"You know" Ron sighed "was slice bread all that great?"

Kim tore her eyes away from her textbook "what?"

"Well you know, people are always saying something "is the next best thing since sliced bread" I'm wondering what the big deal about sliced bread is?"

Kim shook her head and returned to her studies, brushing the incident off as another brief episode of Ron's harmless weirdness.

Undeterred Ron stretched out his body and drew in a deep breath "You know what's really weird. No two people walk the same."

Kim pretended that she hadn't heard him. But after a few seconds went by she found that she just couldn't let such a statement slide.

"What?"

Ron yawned "no two people walk the same it's a fact."

"How, is that a fact?" She yawned as well.

"Well have you ever seen any two people walking the same?"

"Yes, no…I'm not sure… but you just can't assume that as a fact."

He shrugged "Who's assuming, it's a well known fact."

"No it's not"

"It totally is…. I've never seen two people walk the same." He yawned loudly and scratched his chin.

"You don't see gravity but you know it's there right?" She raised her hand to her mouth and yawned for a second time before scratching her own chin.

"But I feel gravity"

"But…..

"Plus I feel the pain when I fall."

"That has nothing to with…." She paused a flash of recognition came to her face "I know what you're doing Ron."

"What am I doing?" he yawned

"You're trying to keep me from studying"

"Is that what I'm doing?"

"Yes…" she paused to yawn "yes it is"

"I don't think I am."

"I think you are" she snapped. "So why don't you just leave me alone!"

Ron sighed "the old saying is right girls are like phones. They love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected."

"Oh God" she plopped down on her bed trying to hide her smile "that was an awful joke."

"It's true though" He yawned for a fourth time.

Kim placed a pillow under head and sighed reflectively "Ron I'm sorry these cram sessions have gotten me in a bad zone."

"You know in Top Gun school they call that the danger zone" He smiled when he heard her loud yawn.

"You have the worst jokes"

He grunted, smacked his lips and offered up the loudest yawn yet "Really?"

Kim shifted her head on the pillow and grunted. Her eyes suddenly began to droop "yes they're the worst."

"How about this one, what do you get if you cross an insomniac, an agnostic and a dyslexic? Someone who stays up all night wondering if there really is a dog."

"Terrible" she said softly as the drowsiness caught up with her. "Just terrible" she yawned one last time and then drifted off to sleep.

Ron looked back down at his textbook

**Why do people yawn when they see someone else yawn? **

**This is a nervous reflex of our brain, just like when someone tells you that he/she is hungry, even if you're not, you'll suddenly feel hungry as well. We tend to yawn when we see someone else yawn because we somehow connect to that person's mind when he/she's not having right amount of oxygen in his/her body**

"I can't believe that worked" He glanced at his sleeping G.F

She'd probably be really angry in the morning. But at least she'd be well rested and angry. He smiled to himself and returned to his work.

**Current time line: Eleven months after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple; Current mood: K: Sleepy R: Heroic**

* * *

**On the Boardwalk**

"Well"

Ron stared at Kim as they traversed the beach side boardwalk. A gentle breeze blew around her somewhat frilly white mid-length skirt. He looked away a crimson tinge on his cheeks.

"Well what?" he asked.

"Well……"

An alarm blared out in his head and he suddenly realized that he had forgotten rule number one. Never forget the compliments

"You look really nice" he said softly. And he meant it

"Thank you" She flung her loose hair behind her shoulders.

Ron let out a deep breath "Ok this is like a totally different world right now."

"What?"

"I've seen you in a bikini before, when we were just friends. But now…"

"Now what?"

He shook his head "I, I'm not sure about the etiquette here. I can see your belly button. My eyes are drawn to them. I can't help it"

"You've always seen my belly button. You see it all the time."

"Yeah but never with B.F glasses on. I'll tell you something it's a completely new experience for me."

"Well" she turned beet red "you think it's not the same for me when I see you shirtless at the pool or on the beach. You're not the only one who is getting used to these…….feelings." She wondered if that was the right word for it.

Kim waited for Ron to respond but he remained silent for a moment before suddenly breaking out into laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh man, you can't imagine how happy I am right now." He took her hand in his and gave it a little squeeze.

He looked at her and let everything sink in.

"Alright, stop staring at my belly button. I'm not completely used to it yet."

He looked at her with mock confusion "belly button?"

"Ron!" she tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"What, can you really blame me? They're in the same general area"

"What if my dad heard you saying something like?"

He grinned "I would have no regrets."

**Current time line: One month after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple; Current mood: K: Feeling beautiful R: Lucky**

* * *

**Rewriting History:**

Kim checked her side view mirror before taking a quick look at Ron in the passenger seat "Listen I thought we could go to Jacque's restaurant this weekend."

Ron put down the comic he was reading "I, I don't think so."

"You know I've suggested this restaurant like a bazillion times and you always shoot it down."

"Ah" he ran his hands on the back of his neck "I'm not that fond of French food."

"Are you kidding me when we went to Paris I had to wait until you passed out before I could drag you out of Pierre's."

Ron gazed out the window "I just get a bad vibe from that place."

"A bad vibe what does that mean?"

"It means...what it means"

She glared at him intently

Ron pointed out the windshield "You know you should really keep your eyes on the road."

She continued to stare

"You know we're going to die right?"

Her eyes were still fixed on him

"Ok it's….." he rubbed his hands together "the thing is, it's really selfish and childish and……"

"Ron."

"You went there with Eric all right" he said quickly "it was like your second date and you were all cheerful when we talked about it the afternoon of the date and it bothered the heck out of me, but at the time I didn't know why….. The restaurant just brings up a few bad memories KP…"

She was shocked, and momentarily speechless "I well, but I went to Bueno Nacho with e…the synthodrone…"

"Oh I know" Ron said "and believe me; I had to do a little soul searching over that one too."

She stared at the steering wheel "I'm sorry, I really didn't remember….." She cut herself off.

In silence they drove along the road until they came coincidentally enough to a Bueno Nacho, she drove into the lot and parked.

"I think we need to talk."

Ron rolled his eyes "actually I believe that somethings are better left unsaid."

"We never really talked in detail about the whole sitch. I never really apologized….

Ron placed his hands on her shoulders "you know what's great about the past KP, it's gone forever and you don't have to go back to it, if you don't want to."

Kim looked down at her lap for a moment; letting the events leading up to their getting together slide slowly through her mind.

"Ron when did you start liking me?"

"What?" He gazed at her curiously

"When did you realize that you liked me, you know more than as a friend."

Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat "I'm not sure. It was hard to tell the difference between like and like-like cuz we were always together so it never came up……. I guess I knew I like-liked you when it got to the point where we weren't always together."

There came a lull in the conversation.

Kim licked her lips "You know, it's alright to ask me when I started liking you"

"Why, you like me now don't you?"

"Yes"

"So what does it matter?"

"It doesn't"

He smiled "Good; because everything after the prom has been gravy."

"Ok" Kim reached for the ignition.

"Alright I've got one question…" he inhaled deeply "if Eric weren't a synthodrone would you still have gone to the prom with me?"

Kim bit her bottom lip "Right now my heart says yes."

"But honestly you don't know for sure." Ron added

"No I don't know for sure. For a girl who could do anything I really couldn't "see" back then. But I believe that eventually I definitely would have come to me senses."

"You really think so?"

Kim started the Sloth's engine "Yeah but Yori would have probably snatched you up by then. Things would have gotten really ugly after that."

Ron chuckled to himself "I guess it's lucky that these things turned out the way they did."

"For sure."

Kim pulled out of the parking lot and they once again found themselves on the road.

"Ok if we're going to do this thing we're going to have to call in advance and make reservations. That place is usually packed on the weekends." Ron suddenly announced "and we're getting a table near a window, I don't like eating near the kitchen. And I don't care how snooty those waiters get; I'm bringing my own ketchup."

Kim smiled "that sounds lovely"

**Current time line: Three months after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple; Current mood: K&R Optimistic**

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**Magnum**: 

"Yea I'm pretty amped about the senior trip too. It should be a bon diggety good time" Ron said as he picked himself out of the Bueno Nacho booth. "Ladies do you need anything extra"

"No we're good with the salads" Kim told him

"What she said" Monique added.

"Coolio" Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. With nacos on his mind he absentmindedly opened it with a flourish. He then watched in horror as a silver square packet seemed to leap out of his wallet and onto the table.

The entire restaurant suddenly went quiet as Kim and Monique's eyes fell onto the prophylactic.

Ron began to sweat.

Kim looked up at Ron and they stared into each other's eyes for a brief moment. She glanced back down at the table and Ron felt himself slipping into a state of shock.

Monique rose out of her seat "I…uh…you know what, I think I'll get myself a slurpster after all."

The silence continued after Monique's departure.

Finally Ron slid back into his seat "let me explain"

Kim finally forced herself to speak "I guess I can see why you were so amped about the senior trip. You _were_ looking forward to a bon-diggety good time"

"It's not like that"

"What is it like?"

"Let me explain" he repeated.

"Fine"

"Let me explain---" He stopped "wait did you say I _could _explain."

Her arms folded she sighed heavily "Yes I did, so go ahead."

"Ok" he placed his hands on the table "give me a minute to explain it to myself; go over it once or twice, and then I'll get right to you."

She rolled her eyes "just tell me how you got it."

"They were giving free samples out at the mall. I'm not sure exactly why I picked it up; the truth is after I did I thought about throwing it out cuz I wasn't expecting anything any time soon."

"What?" Kim exclaimed

"I didn't mean that" Ron said quickly

"You make it sound like I'm holding out on you---."

"Hold on you said I could explain"

"But…."

"Let me explain and rephrase"

"I…."

Ron broke into the puppy dog pout

"Ok, explain"

"That last thing I said; the thing about "expecting" scratch that….scratch it, toss it into the trash, and hurl that trash into the farthest star. Then nuke that star until it collapses under its own weight and becomes a black hole'

"Alright I get it."

"What I meant to say is that I knew we weren't ready for that sort of thing yet. It just wasn't the right time for us"

"Are you sure you didn't mean the last thing? You can be honest with me. I won't be upset…..much….I mean I may get upset…but you might be right…"

Ron interrupted "cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. I'm being completely honest with you right now."

"For real?"

"For real"

She speared a lettuce leaf with her fork and twirled it on her plate "so why did you keep it?"

Ron leaned over the table, picked up the contraceptive and mulled over how he felt when he had decided to keep it "I kept it just in case."

"In case?"

"KP you've got to understand I'm a guy. Blame the Y chromosomes but if the time was right I'd do it…..the deed…wait that doesn't sound romantic enough….. As a male I'd "make love" in a shoe box." He froze "if you were ok with that of course."

"A shoe box?"

"Sure a few candles, a little music, with the right atmosphere, it might not be that bad."

She smirked "I see that you've given that a lot of thought."

Ron filtered out his thoughts and replied simply with "yes, yes I have given it _a lot_ of thought."

Kim tapped her fingers against the table "you uh you did the right thing."

"I did? Yes, yes I did…it doesn't happen very often but sometimes I do the right thing."

"It's not something I say a lot but this time you were being the responsible one."

"Yea?"

"Yeah, things can happen planned or not. We should be prepared for it and when it does happen….it'll…it'll be great."

"Oh lord knows it'll be great." Ron blurted out. "So great" he exhaled

Silence

He looked at her sheepishly "Um"

"It's ok….its actually very flattering."

Kim leaned over to give Ron's hand a squeeze, but she pulled back when Monique returned.

"Here it's on me." She had brought everyone a slurpster of their own.

"Thanks a lot" Ron began to slurp heavily from his drink, Kim did the same.

"Everything ok?" Monique asked

"Everything is fine" Kim answered

She and Ron continued to exchange looks from across the table as they drank. This did not go unnoticed by Monique

"So" she declared with a mischievous gleam in her eyes "ribbed for her pleasure huh?"

Ron did a spit-take, the spray of soda narrowly missed splashing all over his G.F's face. Who luckily at that moment had turned her head to glower at her best friend.

"Monique!"

"What? Don't you think its sweet how he's always thinking about you?"

Ron leaped out of his seat his face blazing red "I'm going to the bathroom"

"Monique please!"

"What, what's the problem? You're a lucky girl."

**Current time line: Ten months after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Secure Couple; Current mood: K&R highly embarrassed**

* * *

**Kissy Face:**

"What are you watching?" A twelve year old Kim Possible asked as she hopped onto her best friends couch.

"I don't know… I think it's a soap opera." Ron answered. He held a bowl of popcorn on his lap.

"You watch soap operas?"

"Nah my mom was watching it and she left the T.V on"

"_All I ever did, Stephanie, was to love Ridge!" _

"_And his father, and his brother, and your son-in-law. Is it any wonder Bridget is confused? I mean, is it any wonder your daughter would confuse natural feelings of respect and affection for romance? You have blurred the lines of socially-acceptable behaviour. And you stand here and you tell me you're proud. What are you proud of?"__Having your son-in-law's baby? I know what you're proud of. Chasing after a man whose wife's body is barely cold in the ground._

"Whoa" Kim said as she grabbed herself a handful of popcorn.

"I know it's so like totally whoa" Ron replied.

The two friends studiously watched the mad escapades on the screen.

_I'm trying to save her the inevitable pain of being married to yet another man who is in love with her mother._

"Wow I wish my family was this interesting" Ron exclaimed.

Kim looked at him disbelievingly "Uh yeah I seriously doubt that you do."

"_You're a walking, talking, piece of pornography... nothing more. Leave me be!"_

"_Dammit! Kiss me you fool!"_

Ron and Kim had their eyes glued to the screen when the two main characters of the show embraced into a deep kiss.

"Now that was what I call a kiss" Kim stated. She turned to see that Ron was staring at her.

"What?"

"You kissed Walter Nelson four months ago"

"Yeah so?"

"So" he cleared his throat "how was it?"

"How was it?" Kim reflected on the question, this was the first time that Ron had brought up the Nelson incident "It was alright."

"Alright?"

"Yeah until our braces stuck together. It was also kind of wet."

"Wet?"

"Yep"

"Did you expect it to be dry?" Ron countered

She shrugged "I'm not sure what I expected."

Ron shook his head "that doesn't sound very kissy."

"I don't know what "kissy" means so I couldn't tell you."

"I mean look at the T.V they made such a big deal about it. The music changed and everything. Kisses are supposed to be special moments, that is what the television is teaching us."

"Television teaches us?"

"Of course it does, it's our portal to the world KP"

"But the Walter Nelson sitch wasn't special; it actually turned out to be the most embarrassing day of my life. Thanks for reminding me by the way."

"You wasted it….You wasted your first kiss."

Kim threw her hands up in the air "Fine I did, whatever"

"I can't believe you got kissed before me." He said suddenly "I was so sure I would get kissed first."

"What, why?" she asked amazed by this revelation.

"I don't know I just did…..I blame my mom, she keeps telling me how handsome I am. "

"And that's a problem why?"

"She's feeding me bad information Kim. Besides she's lied to me before, remember the tooth fairy incident?"

"That was one crazy week" Kim said sadly.

"And now I'm starting to have my doubts about the Easter Bunny."

Kim sighed "You know Ron….."

"Yes"

She turned away "never mind"

He moaned "I'll never be kissed"

"Ron if you really want to get kissed that badly, I could…..I could help…."

"Whatcha talking about Kim?"

"I'm saying we could kiss. Then you wouldn't have to worry about it anymore!"

Ron stared at her curiously "why would you do that?"

She blushed "cuz I'm your best friend and I'm trying to help you out sheesh."

He thought about it for a good while "are you sure about this?"

She shrugged "it's not that big a deal for me….is it for you?"

He shook his head rapidly "no, no I'm totally cool with it."

"Fine then" she slid towards him "ok so close your eyes, that's how me an Walter did it."

"And look how that turned out."

"Just close your eyes."

He closed his eyes and she did the same. They leaned forward. They could feel their breaths on each other's faces and as their lips were about to touch Ron pulled away.

"Nah this is cheating. I can't force my best friend to be my first kiss."

"Good point" Kim said "but then again isn't a kiss still a kiss no matter who does it?"

Ron waved his hands in the air dismissively "nah I want my first kiss to be with a spankin babe who just can't get enough of the Ron-man"

Kim smiled "Ok Ron-man good luck with that."

"Who needs luck with this face?" Ron boasted "I mean this is me we're talking about it; it can't be that long until my first real kiss."

"Probably won't be that long at all" Kim agreed as she polished off the rest of the popcorn.

"Of course" Ron grinned "Just a matter of time until I'm in lip locking city"

**Current time line: Five long years before the Moodulator incident; Current Status: Best Friends Forever; Current mood: K: Supportive R: Expectant.  
**

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A/N Rewriting history may have been a bit to angsty but what are you going to do. I really had a good time with On the Boardwalk, and I'm fond of Kissy Face as well 

Well read and review tell me what you think.


	3. Convo 3

A/N Well ok I'm here to drop a little something on you folks. Hope you guys enjoy it. There'll be important news in my profile pretty soon so check it out when you have a chance. I should have it updated sometime this week.

**Fannie Watch: Gesprekken has been nominated for best short story. Thank a bunch for that dear readers. But I think this story should also be nominated for the best K/R and Romance categories I think it's delivered some quality K/R goodness. **

* * *

**Green Eyed Monster:**

"What's wrong, KP?" taking her by the arm Ron led his girlfriend to a secluded area of the Middleton Mall.

"Oh, _nothing_"

"By "nothing" do you mean something so big that you have no idea where to start."

She gave him a dark look "what makes you think anything is wrong?"

He shrugged "how about all that drama that just happened."

"What drama?"

"We just got kicked out of Abercrombie & Fitch; a store you insisted on going to by the way; because you got into a screaming match with one of the sales clerks."

"She started it!"

"I'm NOT agreeing with her ok. That is NOT what I'm doing right now. She definitely should NOT have gotten into your face like that BUT, you were staring daggers at her the entire time. Nobody likes the stink eye Kim."

"Well I, I just" Kim crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't believe that…_witch_. She saw us walk in together; anyone could tell that you were mine. I mean that we were a couple" she said quickly

"But no, the second my back is turned she's chatting you up"

"Chatting me up?" Ron replied skeptically "Kim, we talked about what was on sale, she was being a professional."

"A professional sneak" she grumbled.

Ron rolled his eyes

"Oh you didn't notice how flirty she was being with you?"

"Flirty?"

"Oh come on, who giggles when they are talking about a sale? Who bats their eyes, licks their lips" she put her hand on her waist and moved about suggestively "who wiggles their hips and blushes when they're talking about a sale?"

"Ok, I didn't even notice any of that."

She frowned "Of course you didn't, you were mesmerized by that succubus."

He threw his hands in the air "she wasn't even that…."

She glared at him.

Ron thought on it for a moment and decided that an outright lie was not what the situation called for.

"I admit she was mildly attractive."

Kim turned her back to him "good I'm glad you enjoyed that."

As an attempt to salvage the situation Ron embraced Kim from behind, holding her by the waist "but she definitely cannot hold a candle to my smoking G.F"

Despite her irritation a smile managed to from on her face. "Oh really, then explain why you're tongue was dragging on the floor."

He let out a breath "I can't believe _I'm_ saying this but maybe you're letting your imagination run away with you."

She scoffed "as if, Ron you don't know how some girls operate. I've been in enough locker rooms to know a schemer when I see one. They're assassins lurking in the shadows, alligators in the Amazon River; they lie in waiting, ready to pounce when your guard is down."

"Kim jealousy is cool sometimes, but in small doses."

She pulled away from him "please I'm not the jealous type."

"Oh really? Remember that time you found that Valentines Card in my drawer and you called me out on it."

"Um, uh" she stammered.

"Yes, you remember the one you forgot that you had given me. The one that was marked to Ron love Kim."

"Ok that wasn't my finest moment. But we all have bad days."

"What about the time you didn't speak to me for a week because you dreamed I ran off to Yamanouchi with Yori."

"But you were such a jerk in that dream" she pouted

"Keyword there is dream" Ron then closed his eyes and pressed his fingers against his head

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to imagine a non-jealous G.F. I've heard about it but I've never seen it. You know like U. and Big Foot."

"Fine I have flaws just like you, excuse me for loving too much."

"Y'know this crazy girl thing you go through every once in awhile, I find it exciting for reasons I'm not completely comfortable expressing at this stage of the um anyway the point is if I've learned anything from daytime television; craziness doesn't mesh well with long term relationships."

He waited earnestly for a response. Eventually to his relief her arms lowered and her shoulders relaxed "I admit at times I can get a little possessive."

"Really?"

"Sarcasm does not help Ron."

"Fair enough, but again this sounds weird coming from me but maybe we can work a little on your tiny insecurity problems."

"I'm so not insecure."

Ron stared quietly at her.

"Fine, I'll work on it."

"We'll work on it" he pecked her on the cheek "I'm not sure I like being the mature one" he joked.

"I'm sorry" she repeated before returning the public display of affection with fervor.

"Alright I'm going to go apologize so they don't ban us for life."

"You want me to come?" she asked.

"Um no, no….I'm not sure the timing; it got pretty ugly back there Kim; really ugly. It would be best if you waited here."

He left and returned ten minutes later with a weary look on his face

"What happened?" she asked.

"I apologized and now it's time to go"

He attempted to hurry past her but she grabbed him by the elbow "Ron, I know something happened, what's the sitch?"

He ran his hands across his face "I apologized to the clerk ok, she accepted the apology and then she brought my attention to a sale on lingerie. I thought maybe she wanted me to buy something to make up for the argument but.."

"But?"

His hands in his pockets he coughed "she offered to model some for me."

Kim eyes' widened---

"Let's not do anything prison-worthy" Ron told her

-----and then closed. "10.9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1"

Her eyes snapped open "K' what did you do?"

"What I always do when I'm in a dangerous situation, I ran. You should have seen it I was like Fred Flintstone, legs pumping as if I was riding a bike in midair. Then I blazed on out of there."

Kim blinked at him once or twice "good"

"Good? That's all you have to say? I know you want to say it."

"Say what?"

"I told you so' I know you want to say it badly I can see that you're in pain. Just say it already."

"I think what's needed to be said has already been said."

"Fine you were right, are we done?"

"Yep"

"Uh-huh" Ron studied her face "We're not done are we? Let me guess I can't ever go back to that store right?""

She shook her head "Ron, I'm not going to ban you from going into certain stores. That would be ridiculous."

"Oh"

"I'll just have Wade keep track of her shifts and we can create a timetable…."

Ron sighed "it's a good thing I love you to pieces." He took her by the hand and started towards the exit.

"I told you Ron. It's not all sugar and spice with girls there's a treacherous underbelly…..

"Right"

"Luckily I have a built in hussy-radar. It's in my genes; my mother and I can spot a floozy a mile away."

**Current time line: One year, two months, three weeks, after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple; Current mood: K: A bit paranoid R: Exhausted.**

* * *

**When you wish**

"I love the state fair but I don't see what the point is of having a petting zoo. I mean come on I'm a thirteen year old boy. There's no reason for me to go to any kind of zoo if I'm not going to see something ferocious."

Kim gave her best friend a fleeting look "Sez the guy who freaked last year when a penguin got loose during our school trip to the Middleton Zoo"

"KP why do you insist on living in the past, it's not healthy." Ron stopped abruptly "what's that?"

He pointed to a man made wishing well located in a dimly lit, out of the way section of the fairgrounds.

"Never seen that before" Kim stated.

"That…." A man jumped into their field of vision, right between them and the well. He wore a white T shirt beneath a leather vest, blue jeans, cowboy boots and a dark top hat on his head. They also noticed that he carried along a wooden walking cane.

The carnie leaned against his cane and tipped his top hat before breaking into song. "Oh down in the well-a, deep in the well-a, how deep, oh I couldn't tell-a. Born into rumors that's running around, down in the well-a, deep in the a well-a, wish in the well-a, trust in the well-a. And your true love, your true love may be found."

Kim gently elbowed Ron in the ribs "what's with the singing?"

"Beats me, but be careful this guy might be a complete whackjob."

The carnie shrugged "Oh you may not believe, this tale it be true. And scoff at the well as you go by; but if you don't own a love of your own. One day you may peak in and try."

He stopped, his eyes narrowed as he gazed upon the two children as if challenging them to proceed further.

Kim said "let's check it out."

Ron cringed "I don't know I'm getting major creep vibes from this guy."

"It'll be fine"

The carnie had a grin that spread from ear to ear as they passed him on the way to the well. Once they were close enough; Ron peered inside and spotted dozens of glittering coins lying in the bottom.

"I'm going to try it, what about you?"

"Are you joking? Kim we just had a discussion about this."

"We did?"

"KP, this is the week of macho Ron. A Ron who loves ferocious animals, fast cars, nun-chucks, and leather chaps"

"And you decided all this…..?"

"Just now" he concluded.

"Of course, Ron I don't think a wishing well is going to be the straw that breaks your macho camel's back."

A look of bemusement came over Ron's face "what?"

"Remember the….."

"Do not bring up the ballerina costume. The past is the past and we swore that we would never speak of that again"

"If it makes you feel any better I won't tell anyone about this either."

"Fine" he agreed as they both fished their pockets for change. "But only because you're my best friend."

Quarter in hand Kim extended her arm out over the well. Then she shut her eyes tight

"Why are you closing your eyes?" Ron asked.

"Because that's how these things work, now shush. Ok….my true love, I want him to um be really cool and uh have...a horse, his favorite color will be blue, he'll dress nice, he'll be tall, and have long hair."

Ron groaned and muttered "typical girly wish"

Kim allowed one eye to open "what is that supposed to mean?"

Ron palmed his face "I guess I can keep calling you KP, but it won't stand for Kim Possible anymore, it'll stand for Kiddy Pool."

She glowered at him "are you trying to say in a roundabout way, that I'm shallow"

He balked under her gaze "did I say something? I get confused sometimes."

Kim closed her eyes. "Fine my true love will be very kind, brave, and very supportive. He'll always be there when I need someone to fall back on, and he'll go out of his way to make me happy."

She turned to Ron "are you happy now?"

Ron extended his arm over the well "I want my true love to be the perfect girl for me. See short and to the point, that's how a macho man of action makes a wish."

Kim rolled her eyes and they simultaneously opened their hands and watched the coins drop into the water below.

"Well that was interesting" Kim muttered.

"Yea" Ron smacked his lips "you know I could really go for some cotton candy."

"Let's go get some then."

Ron leaned against the well "nah I'm actually kind of tired, my feet hurt….the stand is so far away…I think I'll wait here."

"In other words, you want me to go get the cotton candy for you"

"Would you?" He said innocently.

"Sure"

Once she was out of earshot Ron quickly reached into his pocket pulled out a few more coins and tossed them into the well

"PERFECT GIRL FOR ME AND HOT!" he shouted into the mouth "make sure she's a babe, and that she smells good, and that she's really, really soft."

"He-heh"

"Alright, alright I'm shallow too!" Ron turned on his heels to come face to face with the carnie.

"Oh" he said slightly startled "I thought you were my friend Kim."

"Didn't want to lose face before your gal-pal eh?"

"Uh sure whatever" Ron ran his hand down his neck "So dude this well, does it really work?"

The carnie adjusted his top hat "This story is old, this story was told, to me when a very young man, back when I didn't own a love of my own. But now I'm a family man."

"Right, one more question, how long does it take for the uh love delivery?

"What's that son?"

"Look according to recent polls I'm the only one in my class who hasn't been kissed. Oh some of my classmates might be lying but that's a chance I'm not willing to take, I can't be the only one in high school who hasn't been kissed. So true love girl, I'm thinking two to four weeks tops….?"

"Weelllll"

"No singing please" Ron interrupted.

The man ran nodded sagely "there was a man who truly believed in the magic of the well. They say he closed his eyes counted to ten and his true love appeared right before him."

"Really" Ron reflected for a moment and for a third time he reached into his pocket. This time he came out with a bill "nothing says belief like Abraham Lincoln."

He flicked the bill into the well and closed his eyes.

"3, 2, 1" he opened them only to find two green orbs staring right back at him.

"Ron what are you doing?"

He jumped backwards "Kim!"

She held two sticks of cotton candy in her hand and offered him one "here you go"

He tilted his head and looked past her "was there anyone else here?"

"No" she eyed him curiously

"No girl?"

"Nope"

"What happened to the carnie?" He asked

"Look behind you."

Ron glanced over his shoulders and discovered that the carnie was now a few feet away. He waved earnestly at Ron.

"Is something wrong?" Kim inquired

"You mean beyond the fact that I just got gypped by a pit?"

"What the well? You didn't expect your true love to just appear beside you did you?"

"Why not, it's supposed to be a magic wishing well, emphasis on the word magic which implies instant results. If I wanted to wait, I could have just tossed pennies at my toilet bowl at home.

"Amp down Ron, wishing wells are supposed to be for fun. True love will come when it comes"

Ron accepted the cotton candy "I hear what you're saying and you're right, I've got plenty of time to play the field."

She shook her head in amusement. "Hey wouldn't it be funny if you already met her and you were going through major drama for no reason."

"Now that's the corniest thing I've ever heard" Ron told her

Kim was set to reply but was cutoff when loud popping filled the air "what's that?"

They looked up to see flashes of light and color filling the night sky.

"That? Well" The carnie declared after suddenly appearing besides them "those are fireworks my fine lad and lass."

"Let's get out of here; this guy's creep factor has now gone through the roof" Ron whispered to Kim

She nodded in agreement and they slinked off into the masses.

"Have, a happy life children" he called out after them. "Don't forget to tell your friends about the wishing well."

**Current time line: Four years before the Junior Prom; Current Status: Best Friends Forever; Current mood: K&R: Weirded out**

* * *

**Super Size Me:**

"Self-Deprecation much?"

Ron stared blankly at his girlfriend on the other side of the Bueno Nacho booth. His eyes focused on her "I shouldn't have said anything."

"No actually I'm glad you did. I'm happy that you were willing to open up to me, relationships are based on communication."

He put his head down on the wooden table "some things are best kept secret"

"Ron I looked up a couple of things online."

He groaned.

"What? Was I supposed to let my B.F be miserable over something as silly as this?"

She placed a piece of paper on the table "now listen to this. This is from a credited psychiatrist. Lovemaking is not about just size and penetration women like feeling touching caressing... and LOTS of kisses. Passionate love making is a combination of many factors, such as fantasy, longing, anticipation, "naughtiness," and positive power. Exploring these with a partner you trust is where the real……"

Kim cleared her throat and a tinge of red hit her cheeks "is where the real orgasmic intensity comes from."

Ron wordlessly tapped his fingers against the napkin dispenser.

"So do you feel any better?"

He lifted his head and she noticed that he glanced briefly at his lap "seeing how I can't change my anatomy with psychology. I'd have to say no I'm still depressed."

"Ron it's not that important."

"Oh" his eyebrows furrowed "why is it called manhood then?"

Kim placed her face in her hands "Ron why does your inferiority complex surface for the most inconsequential things."

"Yes inferiority, it is safe to say that I have an inferior manhood to some."

Kim placed both her hands on the table and drew in a deep breath "Ron I'm going to say this with all honesty…."

She leaned forward, her face turned tomato red and she said "I think it's perfectly fine."

"How would you know that?" He asked skeptically

Kim coughed for a second time "I did spend a day in your body"

"Right, I forgot about that……and uh who exactly are you comparing me too?"

She gasped.

"I didn't mean it like that" he said ardently "I'm really sorry if it came across like that. I'm just saying that honestly, I don't think you have a real frame of reference to compare me too…….hopefully."

"Well you're right I don't have a frame of reference" she said irritably

"Exactly, thankfully----

She interrupted "but I do have common sense unlike some."

"Kim the frog at the bottom of a well knows not how vast the ocean is."

"What does that even mean?"

"It's a Japanese proverb. They say it all the time. They say it before they wake up and they say it before they go to sleep. And the Japanese are known for their wisdom."

"Ron you're being unreasonable"

"Kim, you just don't understand. You should have seen this monstrosity…."

Kim's right eyebrow arched

"No, no you shouldn't have seen. Thank goodness you didn't see. But the point is I have to compete with this…._beast_ on a genetic level. KP I swear when I saw this guy every cell in my body cried out in shame. My testosterone levels dipped below sea level."

"Hey yall" Monique greeted them as she slid into the booth beside Kim. "What's with our favorite dirty blonde?"

"Well it turns out that my GPA isn't the only thing about me that's average" Ron replied.

"What?"

Kim glanced at Ron "Um"

He waved his hand in the air dismissively "go ahead and tell her, I'm beyond embarrassment, you need at least a thread of self esteem to feel any embarrassment."

Kim turned to Monique "remember the high school all star game two days ago?"

"Of course Ron was shattering records left and right. I thought he'd be glowing about that 'till at least the end of the month."

"You know how Ron usually avoids the after game showers.

Monique nodded "One of the few things Barkin actually let him get away with."

"Unfortunately Barkin didn't get to coach the All Star Team. Some one else did and he didn't cut Ron any slack."

"That doesn't sound too bad" Monique froze "Wasn't Peter Ritchie playing on that team?"

"Yes he started as a linebacker; wait a minute you've heard of him?"

"Who hasn't?" Monique declared "they call him the rail splitter!"

Ron chuckled sadly "the rail splitter…..I don't think he got that name because he was born in a log cabin."

"Monique I can't believe you've heard of him" Kim said

"Kim as a professional gossip there's no way I couldn't have heard of him. He's a legend, among girls of lesser moral stature than yourself, if you catch my drift."

"You hear that Kim he's a legend, I can see it now from Alexander the Great to Peter "three legs" Ritchie, the museum of men among men."

"So you actually saw him in the buff?" Monique inquired "are the rumors true?"

"Are the rumors true?" Ron laughed "let's just say people were having picnics in the shade. There's still snow on it in the summertime. Peter probably has to check it as luggage when he flies. Stephen Hawking has a theory about it. We're probably standing on it right now."

"Alright we get it" Kim exclaimed. She then nudged Monique with her elbow

Monique straightened "personally I don't put too much stock into that stuff. The things that are really important are the feelings between the individuals. The whole debate is kind of superficial really, don't you think Kim?"

"Of course, that's what I've been telling him."

"Some girls prefer them smaller" Monique added

Ron groaned out loud for the second time.

"Oh I'm not saying your small…not that I would know, I'm just….hey with Kim's body frame…I think" Monique exchanged a quick glance with Kim "I'll go"

Monique jumped to her feet "I'll see you guys later."

Ron watched as Monique rushed out of the restaurant then he returned his attention to his girlfriend "Kim let me put this into perspective. It's the one thing about a guy that he can't change. I can be nicer, I can be funnier, I can get washboard abs, but this. I feel like a no horned deer in the Sahara."

"I don't think there are any deer in the Sahara Ron"

"That's not the point, you missed the point"

"Of course I missed it; that was a pretty bad analogy."

"It's the law of nature" he said. "If we were apes all the female gorillas would line up next to Peter.

"After you realize that we are humans and not apes, then your logic kind of fails."

"He's literally twice the man I'll ever be."

"Ron, think about this for a minute you have mystical monkey powers. You've saved the world, a secret sect of ninjas believe you are their Chosen savior. You're the creator of the naco, you've been a millionaire, you won American Starmaker, you've built doomsday devices, you were the Homecoming King, you led our high school to a state title and…." She paused "you got me"

He nodded slowly "I guess I have a few accomplishments under my belt."

"Plus Ron I don't really care about" she blew out a breath "size"

"Really?"

He averted his gaze "cuz this isn't just an ego thing, it's not only about me, you know, I wasn't just thinking about myself" he muttered

It took only a moment for Kim to read between the lines "oh, Ron sometimes you worry about the least important details"

She leaned over to give him a tender kiss; then she placed her cheek against his and whispered "I'm sure like with everything else we'll fit perfectly together."

Ron went into an extreme bout of chocking "KP don't talk like that, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

"Are you ok now?"

He fidgeted in his seat "Yea, but now I need a cold shower."

**Current time line: One year two weeks after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple; Current mood: K: Smug R: Appeased**

* * *

**What I like about you.**

They rested on a netted hammock, swinging gently, as their weary muscles relaxed and they took in their surroundings.

A bit of post mission recreation for Team Possible

The warmth of the afternoon sun was tempered by the shade of the leafy branches above. For a moment only the rustle of the leaves and their hushed breathing broke the silence.

"What I like about you is that you make me smile, even if I don't want to."

"Hey they call me the smile spreading kid; intentionally and unintentionally spreading smiles across the land."

Ron draped his arms across Kim's shoulders as she nuzzled into his chest.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of you spreading smiles to anyone other than me." She said

"I'll try to save all the best smiles for you. Now what I like about you is the enthusiasm you have when you're fighting."

"When I'm fighting?"

"Your face when you're fighting, especially since we've came out of retirement. It's so full of life; I think is the best way to describe it."

"So you stare at my face while we're in the middle of a fight?"

"Whenever I get the opportunity, I'll just stand back and watch you kick butt."

"How is it, that after all these years you still have quirks that I haven't discovered yet?"

'Hey we can go more in-depth with this if you want. You remember that one time when you smashed that synthodrone's skull in with one punch and his ooze splattered all over the wall. I might as well warn you that I found that strangely frightening and arou---exciting in away that I don't think I'm quite ready to explore…..yet"

She looked up at him with mock shock "Ronald, are you trying to tell me that you have dormant masochistic tendencies?"

He smiled mischievously "I didn't really have a label for it but it would explain how I polished off the birthday cake you baked for me" he teased.

""Hey!" she reached over and pinched his arm.

"Ow….I mean ohhhhhh may I have another mistress."

She clucked softly "I can't believe you're into watching me fight, especially since most of the time I get all dirty and sweaty."

"What part of that sentence, am I not supposed to like? But if it makes you feel any better it's also hot to see you perform so professionally when trying to help someone."

She grinned "Is there anything about me that you don't find hot?"

"That's a hard question; there are a lot of little things about you that I find hot, you know beyond the complete package that is KP."

"Like?"

Ron tucked her hair behind her ears, and then looked into her eyes "somebody's starving for compliments."

"Well I'd be happy to initiate a kisses for compliments trading system."

"I was always keen on the theory of supply and demand. I like…" he paused for dramatic effect "the way you eat finger foods."

"What, like chicken fingers?"

"And cheese cakes" Ron added.

"How is that even appealing?"

"Hey when you're gnawing on chicken wings….."

"Gnawing!" She exclaimed.

"Your nose kind of twitches like a squirrel's……

"It does not!"

"I think it's adorable."

"Ok, fine it's my turn again, what I like about you is; the way you think."

"For reals? I thought, you thought, that most of my ideas were kind of annoying."

"They can be annoying and frustrating at times. But they're never typical. Like remember when you said that if you were the President you'd create National Balloon day."

"Oh yes the one day of the year where everyone in the country releases a balloon into the air at the same time. I could have sworn I got one of your patented eye rolls for that one."

"You told me that idea while we were falling into a volcano. It wasn't exactly the appropriate time for that, since we were about to die. But I thought about it later on, and I've got to admit, three hundred million colored balloons suddenly filling the air, everyone being a part of the event. That would be pretty amazing."

"Yes it takes awhile for genius to be appreciated."

She smiled "I also like how modest you are."

"And charming…don't forget charming."

Kim placed her right hand in his "of course how could I forget."

She intertwined her fingers with his and gave them a squeeze. He titled his head to one side, and stared down at her "Kim I'm not the most observant guy in the world but I can't help but think something is wrong."

"Ron would you still like me if I get really big"

"Kim I know you think you've put on a few pounds over the vacation….."

"No I mean if I got really huge, like a cow."

He chuckled "that's going to be pretty hard to do since you're such a yoga fiend."

"Ron, remember when we went camping the night of the meteor shower."

He stopped chuckling and a smile formed on his face "oh yes most definitely."

"I forgot to take something very important that day."

She felt his body stiffen under her

"Go on" he said

"And you didn't wear something very important that night."

His breathing became labored "uh-huh."

"So yea…...I'm pregnant."

His mouth opened for a second and then it immediately slammed shut. The atmosphere grew cold in the awkward silence.

"I did it" he gasped.

"What?"

He closed his eyes "I mean, no, no wait not no; what I meant to say is that; wait this is totally new territory for me."

"Ron calm down, so not the…actually scratch that, this is SO the drama."

"Do your parents know?"

"Nope I just found out a few hours ago, I took the test after the mission."

Their eyes meet. His expression was helpless, hers was utterly drained.

"So are we happy?" he asked.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready…." Her voice trailed off. "What did you mean when you said "I did it?"

"Kim I'm a man of many fears and insecurities. And I only have three real successes that I'm one hundred percent proud of. One is getting you, two is creating the naco, and three is _not_ failing as Yamanouchi's chosen. This would absolutely be success number four in my book"

He stopped "but what I think doesn't really matter, you've got to go with um whatever you feel is best."

Her voice breaking. tears in her eyes, she clutched him and said "What you think does matter, it matters so much. More than you know"

She took a moment to regain her composure "Ron I…."

He pulled her closer, lifted her chin and kissed her tenderly on the lips

"I'm supposed to be stronger than this" she sniffed.

"Don't worry KP whatever you decide; I'm going to be here for you."

"I know and that's what I love about you."

**Current time line: Five years after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple. Current mood: K&R: Serene **

* * *

A/N Read and review of course tell me what you think. This batch my not be as good as the others, but the quality is still strong I hope.

1) "When you wish" might have been more of a "moment" than a conversation like the others . But I think it works.

2) "What I like about you" may have dipped a bit into the angst side but eh there will be more on this slice of storyline in the future. Plus an explanation on why they came out of retirement

3) Offtopic: I wrote my first piece of original fiction (short, short story) I'll be able to post it in three days at Fiction Press so check my profile for the link coming soon

The song the carnie sang is Wishing Well by Hank Snow


	4. Convo 4

A/N Welcome to Chez yvj. I am here to serve you. What would you like this evening?

The chef special? Very good sir/madam. The chef's special this evening will be fluff made with the freshest and finest K/R. Some song fic elements but not much to overwhelm the meal. Its very balanced. Now how does that sound?

Wonderful, may a recommend a dash of angst to go along with the fluff.

Now, Now I realize that many are wary of the overpowering flavor of angst on an individual basis but mixed with some fine fluff it accentuates the texture and succulence of such a tantalizing meal. And the aftertaste *mwahhh* Es Tres Magnifique!

Good choice! Here is your meal, enjoy!

* * *

**Three's Company:**

Kim was mid-yawn when she caught sight of him through the kitchen window. Seeing Ron in the Possible's backyard normally wouldn't have been all that unusual. In fact she was very much aware that he would be visiting later this evening. She was aware of this because it had been her idea. Today was the day they would invite their respective parents over to her house to reveal that everyone should be prepared for the pitter pattering of some little feet in about a few months. So yes, he was here a few hours earlier than expected. But then, that wasn't what was strange about him being in the backyard. Kim secured the fabric belt of her bathrobe and strolled into the backyard.

Ron brightened immediately when he saw her approach. "Hey KP, how's my baby?"

She paused, having been surprised by the question. For a brief moment she hadn't been sure if he was referring to her or the actual baby. Either way her heart fluttered and a bit of heat came to both sides of her cheeks.

"I'm fine." She placed her hand over her stomach. "The baby is fine, as far as I know; I've got a checkup scheduled at the end of the week."

Ron flinched. "Oh man I almost forgot about that…. OK I got to write that down… but what if I forget to write it down… Kim remind me to write down a memo that will remind me to _not_ forget about your doctor's appointment."

"Ron."

"Yes Kim?"

"This is the part of the conversation where we both acknowledge that you are tied to a tree in my parent's backyard."

Ron glanced down at the ropes that wrapped around his body and pinned him to the trunk of the tree.

"Oh right, the ropes; well, it's a funny story…."

Kim eyed her boyfriend curiously. "I could go for a few laughs."

"OK, see as you know today is um, revelation day."

"Right," Kim nodded.

"So OK, honestly I went to sleep nervous and I woke up feeling weird."

Kim arched an eyebrow.

"Weirder than usual…the thing is I woke up feeling things were off on a 'guy' level. On a 'dude stepping up' level."

Kim appeared perplexed. "Okay…"

"So I got up early and came here to have a man to man with uh, Mr. P."

"No!" Kim exclaimed as the puzzle pieces began snapping together in her head.

Having spent what some would call a fair amount of time coming to understand Kim in the close to two decades that they had known each other. Ron was aware of the dangerous waters the ship was sailing.

"First of all let's jump to any strange conclusions."

"He didn't!" Kim said with much more anger in her voice.

Ron chuckled. "Hey it's better than the alternatives; I could be orbiting Saturn right about now."

"He had...no…right to…"

Her indignation was at its peak when she couldn't form an entire sentence. He knew there was trouble ahead if he didn't fix this quickly.

"KP, before you get totally upset. Think about this for a moment. How many times have we been tied up by villains and escaped?"

Kim took in a deep breath. "Lots."

"Houdini hasn't got anything on us." Ron wiggled about for a moment and eventually his right arm was free. "You think your dad doesn't know that? He knew I'd get out of this in this in a sec."

"So why didn't you?"

Kim's anger had subsided, but by her tone told him it was being replaced by a sort of dubious sadness.

"I started thinking some things over and … I lost track of time," Ron paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "OK this is what happened Kim, in detail and it's the truth. I came over we talked… well, initially I talked and he listened… then came the awkward silence… then he lectured and I listened, then I said some stuff, then we both talked at the same time. Then we had some coffee and biscuits, some more silence, then we talked again, then we shook hands, and that's when he said and I quote 'I can't help but feel like I should tie you to a tree or something.' It was throwaway line, but then I go 'Mr. Dr. P I would be honored,' and so here we are."

Kim ran her hands across her face. "You realize that wasn't very detailed.'

"The key facts are there though, and it's the honest truth. There was no real animosity to it, there might have been a slight hint of disappointment, but I sense it wasn't as much as I had been worried about. "

Kim closed her eyes. "Ron why did you allow my dad to tie you up?"

"It's tradition KP!"

Kim opened her eyes. "I've never heard of this happening in my family before."

"It's a new tradition. We just came up with it, and now it will be passed down for generations to come." Ron placed his free arm on Kim's shoulders. "I like to imagine it was the passing of a type of torch."

"Are you seriously OK with this?"

"Definitely," Ron nodded. "Your dad and I…we got on the right page at the end. I got what I needed from our chat."

Kim blew out a breath. "Let me help you out of there."

Once free, Ron leaned against the tree and slid down to a seating position. Km took a seat beside him beneath the tree.

"So you're cool?" Ron asked.

"If you are, then yes," Kim rested her head against his shoulder. "You shouldn't have done this on your own."

"I think your dad appreciated."

"I don't know what I am going to do with the two of you" Kim sighed. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms them. "I'm still surprised by it y'know"

"Surprised about what?"

"The fact that I'm having a baby," she said smiling.

"You're having my baby." Ron said quickly.

Kim lifted her head up in surprise.

"Hmmm, that might have come on too strong. 'Our' baby probably is the right term… right?"

"Yeah."

"Cool," Ron said. "Still "my baby" does have a nice ring too it."

Kim placed her head back upon his shoulder. "You sound very proud. You might not know it but that kind of attitude does wonders for a girl Mister Stoppable."

"To be honest I couldn't have done it without your help, Miss Possible."

Kim laughed. "Well, we always did work well as a team."

"Speaking of teamwork," Ron coughed. "This is probably not the most appropriate time for this and a more romantic atmosphere is probably the right way to go……But seeing how I happen to be currently overcome by um emotion….So I want to say…ask….I would want…like…I would love…appreciate….no love…..definitely love, if you…..honor…..um….howwouldyouliketobeMissusStoppable?"

There was a moment of silence and Ron jumped on it immediately.

"OKforgetiIsaidanything."

"Wait!" Kim sat up and faced him.

"Wow, I screwed that up royally" Ron muttered to himself.

"No you didn't. "You didn't let me answer!"

"Hesitation is an answer."

"No, no it's not! And it wasn't hesitation it was surprise."

"You know if you asked I'd I've have answered in like half a nanosecond."

"That's impossible."

"I didn't know it was impossible at the time so I would have done it." Ron countered.

Kim inhaled sharply. "OK, so if I had asked…proposed....you wouldn't have felt obligated."

Ron's face flashed with surprise. "Why would you think that?"

Her eyes went down to the ground. "Insecurities? They come and go."

Ron ran his hand through his hair. "Oy, if we are both going to be insecure about stuff at the same time then it's going to be really hard."

Kim took his closest hand in hers and began to massage it softly. "We'll be fine."

Ron bit his lip. "OK I acknowledge that wasn't the best proposal in history so I can see why you would doubt…"

"No," Kim interrupted. "It was…"

"But I'm bad with words…always… Looking back on it 'Out there in here?' I could have said that so much more eloquently or something…."

Pause

"The same goes with the proposal, but the thing is I'm not promising just words. I'm promising actions too…And if you say yes, I'll be a husband…..a father….a guy who will love you for….for until time…for all time…."

"For until time? That didn't even make any sense" Ron groaned and placed his open palm against his face in frustration. "My actions… that's my promise and not only because of the 'I have to's' or 'I'm suppose to's' but because I want to. I really want to KP."

Though the seconds ticking by were like his fingernails being pulled off, he gave Kim time for his words to sink in. Wordlessly she returned her head to his shoulder. He didn't have a clear look at her face but he saw her swipe the sleeve of her robe against her eyes. Then he felt her hand squeeze his arm it was tightest she had ever held him yet warmer than he thought possible.

"When I become Missus Stoppable, you won't be able to call me 'KP' anymore."

Ron leaned his head against hers. "I can live with that if you can."

"I think I can live with that _for until time_" she cooed.

Grinning Ron pulled Kim onto his lap. "Yes junior, mommy teased daddy after he proposed. Mommy was a cruel woman."

She looked up at him. "Mommy couldn't have been so cruel since she married daddy."

Ron shook his head in mock sadness. "To be honest junior, Daddy was a trophy husband. Mommy only married him for his devilishly handsome features."

"And for his big ears" Kim stated.

Ron nodded, "and for his...hey!"

"And last but not least, because she truly loved him with all her heart."

She reached up and caressed his face with her right hand, as he beamed down at her. "But it was all mostly because of his devilishly handsome features right?"

"Of course" Kim replied.

Ron lowered his head to kiss her. "Daddy always loved Mommy's honesty."

**Current time line: Five years after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Engaged; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R assured.**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Spaceship**

She found him sitting in the classroom closet, sucking loudly from an already empty juice box. He was obviously very upset. Ron only went into the closet when he was taking something really bad.

"Hey," Kim said as she sat down a few feet away from him. "I saw the, um, thing that happened."

He pulled his lips away from the plastic straw. "The thing?" He said incredulously.

"Oh you mean when I whiffed in kickball and landed on my face and had laughter rain down on me like meteors in a …….meteor rainstorm?"

"Um, you've fallen down in front of people lots of times."

Ron crushed the juice box in his hand. "The school year is almost over and no one has ever hit a homerun off Billy 'Noogie' Treadwell. Last night I dreamed of hitting a home run off him. I kicked the ball so far that everyone cheered. Even Billy, he shook my hand, and then he promised never to give me a noogie again right before he elected me King of the third grade."

"King of the third grade....uh-huh."

Ron looked past Kim, beyond the closet walls as if he were looking off into some far off magical land. "I woke up this morning knowing this was going to happen. I waited all day for recess. I made sure I was the first one up…and….and I whiffed."

Kim sighed. "Was it that important to hit a home run off of Billy?"

Ron pulled his attention from his magical world and focused on Kim. "Wait I don't think you get it. Hitting a home run off Billy would be so sweet not just because he is the best pitcher in the class but because he is the world's biggest jerk. I'm not even sure what a 'jerk' is, but if the teacher asked me to define the word "jerk" I would say Billy 'Noogie' Treadwell."

Kim inched closer to her friend. "Listen Ron I think…."

"Oh no," Ron put his hand up to stop Kim's approach. "I don't need cheering up. I'm done with everything. If I had a spaceship I would so blast off and go far, far, far, away from here."

"Where would you get a spaceship?" Kim asked innocently.

"It doesn't matter where I got it Kim. The point is, if I had one I would so be away from here. Then everyone would go 'hey, did you hear about Ron and his spaceship' and they would be bummed and wish they had made me king of the third grade."

"Alright" Kim said before pausing to reflect. "Tell me again why you want to be king?"

"Duh, when you're king everyone has to be your friend. Even Billy 'Noogie' Treadwell or Bonnie Rockwaller or Jake 'The Gerbil' Roberts. They have to be your friend. They have to like you because you're the king!"

"Do you like Billy 'Noogie' Treadwell or Bonnie Rockwaller or Jack 'The Gerbil' Roberts?"

Ron tossed his juice box onto the ground. "No, they're mean to me all the time."

"Then why would you want them to be your friends?"

Ron shook his head vigorously. "You don't get it, it's not about me liking them; its about them liking me."

Kim picked the juice box and pretended to inspect the label. "Why do you need them to like you?"

"You're right I don't need them to like me," Ron muttered. "I just need them to be sad as I'm blasting away from everything in my awesome spaceship."

Kim sat up straight. "Your parents would miss you."

Her statement had blindsided him. And just like his body when his foot missed that kick ball by half an inch, his anger had been knocked off balance. He attempted to regroup.

He waved his hand dismissively. "Well they're supposed to miss me, it doesn't count."

"I'd miss you."

Just like earlier in the day he had been taken off balance and was sent spiraling into the ground.

"I"

He groaned.

"I know what you're up to."

"What am I up to?" She deftly moved closer.

"You don't let me be angry. Every time I try to have some angry time for myself, you have to pull me out of it. Even when I should….when I want to bring angry or sad you do this. KP, George Washington became President so we could be free to be angry, and sad and angry again. It's in the declaration of independence….."

He paused when he noticed that she had moved closer still. "Stop right there."

She smiled and shuffled closer and closer.

"Don't do it, don't do it." He warned.

A grin spread on across her face when she sidled up right beside him.

"Let me be angry---"

He was interrupted when she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"No, ah, awwwwww."

She held on tightly as he imitated a struggling man. "I think I'd go with you."

"What?"

"If you had the spaceship. I'd go with you."

"Oh." Ron said as the last remnants of anger slipped away from his body.

"See then that would make your parent's sad, so then my parents would be sad and your parents would be sad, and that's four sad people. I couldn't do it."

Kim eventually released him. "Let's go get some graham crackers."

"Good idea," Ron said as he stood up with clenched fists. "But first I'm kicking that stupid ball."

The game was almost over and he had to drop fifty cents to bribe his way back into the lineup. But he was where he needed to be, facing down Billy 'Noogie' Treadwell. His eyes narrowed as he faced the immense second grader. Ron was convinced that Billy belonged in high school instead of the third grade. You could tell by the way the light reflected of his mustache. The bully's sneer told the story; he was anticipating another embarrassing performance. It was time to change the script on him Ron thought. A quick scan of the field revealed that everyone was paying attention to this very moment. Kim was out there somewhere too, he would make her proud. His eyes locked on to Billy's, they both knew it was time. Billy leaned over and rolled the ball with all his might. Ron concentrated on the rolling sphere; he tensed his muscles and timed his attack. He focused all his strength into his right foot and let it fly. This time he felt himself make connect. The ball sliced through air and to everyone's surprise it bounced off Billy's face.

Before being snatched out of the air by the first baseman.

"You're out!" A kid shouted but Ron was frozen in place.

"You're out Ron." Kim said sadly a moment later. "I'm sorry but you'll have to move, it's the rules."

Ron turned to Kim then he looked back at Billy who was currently dealing with his face. A tiny trickle of blood ran from the boy's nose and when he noticed it, he ran from the field with rivers of tears flowing from his eyes.

"You'll get a homerun next time," she sighed.

Ron watched Billy's tearful flight from the field. He turned to Kim then to Billy, then back to Kim, then back to Billy again.

"KP, I think I just had a religious experience."

"A what?"

"What?" Ron replied as he broke away from his trance. "Did I just say something or did you?"

She rolled her eyes. "You, and it was something weird....again"

"Maybe," Ron said as Billy cried to a nearby teacher. "But I just figured something out. You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find, you'll get what you need. "

"Those are the words of a song."

"Really?"

"My dad plays that in the car all the time. You've been there when he plays it."

"Huh." He shrugged, "well let's go get those graham crackers."

**Current time line: Eight years before the Junior Prom; Current Status: Best Friends; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K Confused R Content.**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Spontaneous loving**

The alarm clock had gone off but he had already been awake for at least twenty minutes. And for the entire length of that time his mind had been locked on one subject. Earlier that week he had made the mistake of talking to Monique about working on lengthy relationships, especially ones where the couple was separated by being in different schools. Monique practically gave him a research assignment. Dozens of articles on relationships were tossed on his lap. Now statistics and intimate tidbits were ricocheting off the walls of his mind. What did he learn? Well if you've been in a relationship for a certain length of time you start to fall into a normal routine. Then monotony starts to build up and kick in, even if you still occasionally run around the world fighting villains. Yes he learned much, though he wasn't entirely sure how to adapt this knowledge. He was supposed to see Kim tonight, and he had to do something spontaneous and impulsive. Impulsiveness wasn't a problem for him, more than once he had spontaneously purchased a video game when he was supposed to be on a budget. Randomness and the unexpected was his forte. Once he figured out how to channel it into being romantic, he would be able to wow Kim. Something crazy unexpected, romantic and spontaneous would totally reconnect them in a special way.

It was about that time that he heard the music. He slapped the snooze on the alarm clock but the music grew louder. He listened for a moment and discerned that someone was strumming on a guitar nearby. He sat up in bed and continued to listen. The muffled sound wasn't coming from next door he was sure of that.

While he was wondering if it was coming from upstairs or downstairs, the music suddenly stopped. He was ready to head back to sleep when something slapped against his windowsill. At first he thought it was the rain hitting the window but he turned to it just as stone hit the glass. Curiously he walked over and opened his window. He stuck his head out into the rain and was surprised by the sight.

There was his girlfriend, three stories down standing below his window. Her hair was heavy, her clothes were thoroughly drenched but the weird thing was she had an acoustic guitar slung across his chest. Thick raindrops splashed against her face as she waved up at him. Wordlessly he waved back. She plucked a few strands on the guitar and his jaw dropped.

"No way," he said to himself.

Kim's finger's danced across the guitar string then her voice wafted up from her lips to his ears.

_He __ain't got much money  
His clothes are kinda funny  
His hair is kinda wild and free  
Oh, but Love grows where my Ronnie goes  
And nobody knows like me  
_

A woman under an umbrella passing by stared at Kim and glanced up at Ron for a moment before moving on. Two construction workers stopped and leaned against a parked car to take in the show.

_He is kinda lazy  
And people say he's crazy  
And his life's a mystery  
Oh, but Love grows where my Ronnie goes  
And nobody knows like me  
_

The window next door opened and Ron's elderly neighbor peered out her window. "What's going on?"

_There's something about his hand holding mine  
It's a feeling that's fine  
And I just gotta say, Hey!  
He's really got a magical spell  
And it's working so well  
That I can't get away  
_

Two construction workers stopped and leaned against a parked car to take in the show.

_I'm a lucky lady  
And I've got to tell my baby__  
That I love him endlessly  
Because Love grows where my Ronnie goes  
And nobody knows like me  
_

A man walking his poodle stopped momentarily to hear a few notes. He was reaching into his pocket to presumably search for change before he noticed Ron. Then he shrugged and walked off.

_There's something about his hand holding mine  
It's a feeling that's fine  
And I just gotta say, HEY!  
He's really got a magical spell  
And it's working so well  
That I can't get away_

At least a half dozen people had dropped in on the serenade but neither Ron nor Kim had noticed any of it.

_  
I'm a lucky lady  
And I've got to tell my baby  
That I love him endlessly  
Because Love grows where my Ronnie goes  
And nobody knows like me_

When the song had ended Kim bowed and blew a kiss up at him. From the beginning of the song to its eventual end Ron's face had gone from early morning pale to tomato red. Still he reached out and captured the imaginary kiss.

"Well are you going to stand there while the young lady waits out in the rain? Some roles may change but men are essentially men in every generation," The elderly neighbor sighed before shutting her window.

Ron pulled away from the window and forty seconds later, he was walking out of the door of his building towards her.

She looked unexpectedly anxious.

"I probably should have checked the weather channel before I came out," she laughed. "I didn't expect a hurricane."

Ron combed through his mind for something to say and the first thing that popped up was, "When did you learn to play….?"

"I took classes" she said quickly. "Some of my courses this semester are easier than others. So I had some free time and I thought you know.'

She held up the guitar. "So did you like it? I know some of the words didn't exactly fit but I was trying to be a little spontaneous and impulsive and the thing is I know that normally some guys would feel uncomfortable about being serenaded."

"Uh never be normal, my motto."

"I knew I heard that somewhere before," she sniffed. "So what are you thinking?"

"I," he paused. "I totally just remembered how much I dig my very groovy, hip, chick."

"Right on" Kim grinned.

"Seriously, I loved it. It was great" Ron told her.

Kim smiled as she moved some wet hair from her face. They were both soaked to the bone now.

"Good because, that was kind of the reaction I was hoping for," she chuckled. "Ron I…."

"I know…" He interrupted. "I already know what you're going to say, the whole serenading thing kind of gave it away."

He moved in close with his hands on her waist and she slid her arms around his neck. The rain was getting intense and thunder started to boom around them. Being a bit shorter Kim stared up at him, raindrops dripping from her lashes, and he looked down into her eyes. Then there lips locked in an achingly tender kiss.

Sheets of rain slammed into them as they held on tight.

Afterward she sighed and nestled her head on his chest. "You realize you didn't change out of your pajamas before coming out right?"

He drew in a sharp breath. "I was not aware. Got lost in the moment here."

She hooked her arms around his right arm. "We're both drenched and we should get out of these clothes."

Ron's eyebrows furrowed up to his forehead. "And maybe we should warm ourselves up a little?"

"With coffee?"

"…….Yeeeeeeeahhh, sure coffeee."

She giggled. "Don't worry; I think we're on the same wavelength here Ron. So let's go in before we get sick."

**Current time line: Three years after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Couple; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R Ardent.**

* * *

A/N Delicious no?

Ah well. It's been awhile with this story and I decided in light of all the new stuff I've thrown out there recently I should go back and tag an old gem. Hopefully it lived up to the previous chapters. Read and review.


	5. Convo 5

A/N _Back in black I hit the sack. I've been too long I'm glad to be back!_

So yeah I'm back here. By now you've probably realized I work on a lot of stories on this site. Most of those stories will come to an end (eventually, God willing) This well, as long as I have my K/R goggles this story may go on forever.

Not sure if "convo five" can compete with the previous four chapters. But maybe its decent enough to do K/R justice.

**

* * *

****So far so good:**

"You know in dog years we're fifty six years old." Kim announced without taking her eyes off the one lone white puffy cloud cruising casually across the azure colored sky.

Lying languidly beside her Ron turned towards his best friend. "So that's like over a half of a hundred years.

"In dog years," Kim said.

"Still that's a long time."

She shrugged, "for a dog, yeah."

"Kim you've been alive for fifty six years-"

"Eight years, I'm not a dog," she interrupted.

"Fine, eight years, you've been alive for eight years. But have you lived? What have you done in your life in eight years?"

"I've learned to walk, talk, read, write, and use the bathroom by myself, plus adding, subtracting, and counting to one thousand."

The enormity of her comment caused Ron's mind to turn reflectively inward. And it was under the roar of a cool breeze that he had what was possibly the third largest epiphany of his life since he had learned the exact definition of epiphany. "Huh, you've actually learned a lot in few years."

"Yeah" Kim said proudly. "But you've done the same thing."

"Yeah I never thought about it like that." He paused, then grinned with a bit of pride. "It's pretty cool. We've done a whole lot so far" Ron gathered a few strands of grass in his hand, tossed them into the air and watched the cool breeze carry them away.

"Wait, you can count to one thousand?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure."

"That's pretty amazing."

She turned towards him, "I'd like to be able to count to ten thousand before I'm ten."

"What are you going to do after that?"

"I don't know," Kim brought her attention back to the sky. "Maybe I'll get married or something."

Ron whistled softly, "Wow you've got it all figured out already KP. I need to catch up."

**Current time line: Eight years before the Junior Prom; Current Status: Best Friends; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R Sunny.**

* * *

**It's all the small stuff:**

Kim was a few miles west of where she wanted to be and there was nothing she could do about it.

Debilitated and helpless were not feelings she enjoyed having. But here she was, in four lanes of traffic, and no one was moving at all. Not even an inch! That traffic had simply come to a sluggish crawl. Swiveling her head from left to right, Kim could only see miles of sun reflecting chrome running in all directions.

"Oh yeah, this is completely fertile grounds for a major headache."

Exasperated, she let out an involuntary gush of air at the exact moment that her cell phone started ringing. Glancing quickly at her caller ID she noticed that the incoming call was from Ron.

_Thank goodness for Bluetooth _

Kim swiftly tapped a tiny button on her steering wheel. It seemed to her that she was talking to her husband more and more through the speakers of her car on her way to school or work rather than face to face.

"Hey," she sighed just loud enough for the sloth's built in microphone to pick up on.

Ron's disembodied voice came in clear through the car radio. "Your daughter is not a picky eater KP. She's a food elitist."

"Oh... OK, she's my daughter when she's being picky but she's your daughter when you guys are watching cartoons."

"And when she's finger painting! The first thing I learned on my day off today is that baby girl has her daddy's flair for smudging. Yeah that's right I'm taking credit for all her artistic talent."

"I should have taken the day off too" she muttered.

"I do remember someone suggesting that we synch up our day offs. But someone else wanted to be an ambitious responsible adult. Maybe if you were here, we'd be able to figure out why our fussy pride and joy has decided to boycott everything but vanilla custard."

"Did you try the apple moons?" Kim asked.

"Apple moons...I'm going to assume that you're talking about the thinly sliced wedges."

"Oh! I just remembered she can't get enough of the banana wheels."

"Alright, wait one second" she heard him chuckle. "Did you come up with cutesy names for everything she eats?"

Kim felt a flush of heat reach her cheeks, "Maybe."

"So what do you call the cereal?"

"Little Os" she said, sighing softly.

"And the hard-boiled egg wedges?"

Kim took note of her reddened cheeks in the rear view mirror. "Egg canoes"

"Ha!" Ron laughed and slightly paused to tease her. "You're- such- a mom."

"Uh-huh, this coming from Mister 'Did Joanne-y wanne-y make a poopsie whoopsie!' Stoppable."

"Hey, you can count the times I've said that on one hand" Ron countered.

She was gearing up to refresh Ron's memory, when the air abruptly erupted with the jarring sound of a dozen vehicles blasting their horns in unison. Kim looked to her left and to her right, each time she was greeted with a queer look from some enraged motorists who had now concluded that everyone else was to blame for the tragic predicament they were currently situated in.

She peeked at her rear-view to see a line of cars behind her. Turning forward she saw another line of cars stretching out towards the horizon. It suddenly dawned on her that she'd spent most of a fine summer evening maneuvering around this torturous parade.

The headache hadn't formed in her head as much as it had exploded. The intensity of it grew exponentially by the second as more and more motorists decided to contribute to the noise pollution. She groaned loudly as her forehead smacked against the outer edge of her steering wheel.

"Hmmm, judging by the whimpering, I'm going to guess that traffic is a little crappier than usual."

"Ron, you could change a tire without losing your place in line!"

"Wow, that-that doesn't so bad" he lied.

"If I wanted to change lanes I'd have to buy the car besides me," She groaned.

"Ha, that's pretty funny."

Gritting her jaws tightly, Kim stared angrily at the dashboard.

"You're glowering inside an empty car aren't you? I can totally feel it from here. OK, let revise that into husband talk. KP it sounds like you're in a tough situation and I feel bad, clearly not as bad as you currently feel, because you are obviously in a rough spot that was totally not your fault."

"It's not a rough spot, its heeeeelllll!" Kim exhaled with her face now completely slumped against the steering wheel.

"Well maybe I can cheer you up."

"It's impossible," she sighed. "I am in a dark, dark place. Wait, don't we have a teleporter or something in the closet?"

"Yeah, we had to give that back. Besides remember what happened to that scientist when a fly got caught in the teleporter with him?"

Kim's face scrunched up in great disgust. "Yeah pass on the teleporter."

"Hey can't the sloth fly?" Ron asked.

"That option had to be removed; it just eats up way too much gas and with the baby expenses..." Kim let words trail off.

"Gotcha," Ron tagged on. "Bundle of joy costs an arm and a leg."

"Ron? It's probably going to sound unreasonable over the phone, but I want you to do me a favor."

"Shoot" Ron replied.

"Cheer me up."

He laughed. "Alright, the price is reasonable. I'll give it a shot."

There was a pause as Kim glanced up briefly to check the road for any signs of improvement, before lowering her again in frustration.

Eventually Ron said. "How about a bad joke?"

"Hit me," she said.

"So yeah, I was reading the paper this morning and there was this article about a blind carpenter who picked up a hammer and _saw_."

Kim groaned out loud.

"Brave enough for one more?" Ron asked.

"Yeah hit me again."

"Why does a chicken coop have only two doors?"

"I don't know."

"If it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan."

"That is so terrible," Kim chuckled.

"So bad its good," Ron proclaimed triumphantly. "You feel any better?"

Bad jokes had, or more specifically bad jokes from Ron had actually become quite the stress reliever for Kim. This discovery had been made during one sleepless night amongst many sleepless nights in a row since the baby had been born. A night that saw husband and wife staring red eyed at their bedroom ceiling, listening intently to any faint sound that may come from the baby monitor on their night stand. It seemed for the last three consecutive nights the second either of them closed their eyes the baby would begin to cry. So they simply waited, with dry eyes and dry mouths for the slightest sound that would have them up and running to their little girl. It occurred to Kim that night; the next time she slept it would probably be on her deathbed.

Then as she was on the cusp of insanity, Ron who had lost most of his reasoning skills the night before, turned to Kim and said, "Knock knock." From then on it seemed as if he had a limitless supply of the worse jokes the world had ever conceived saved in case of emergencies.

However no joke, funny or not, would be able to draw a smile on her face today. Looking around Kim realized this tightly packed traffic jam was beyond any horror she could imagine. It was as if she had been trapped in a moving coffin.

"No, bad jokes are not going to be enough this time Ron. I don't think anything can help."

"Hmmmm, this is a tough nut to crack."

Silence reigned again as Ron retreated to the drawing board, and Kim tapped her head against the steering wheel.

"Oh right, Joanne and I were talking this evening."

Kim stopped her head midway to the steering wheel. "You had a conversation with our daughter? Our two year old daughter?"

"That's the weird thing; I didn't know a two year old had that much to say."

Her interest piqued, Kim lifted her heavy head up. "Uh-huh, so she was talking back to you?"

"Well duh, I said we having a conversation, didn't I? It was a discussion, a chit-chat, pow-wow, a heart to heart, a rap session-"

"Get it" Kim interrupted. "So what was this conversation about?"

"Get this, I've just drawn her bath right, and as I'm about to dip her into the tub, she looks me right in the eyes and says, 'The universe is pretty big dontcha think?"

"Uh-huh."

"Luckily, I managed to keep my composure and not drop her. I placed Joanne down gently in the tub, splashed some cold water from the sink in my face and then pinched my cheeks to check if I was dreaming."

"Sounds reasonable and logical."

"So I turn back to Joanne and she locks eyes with me again. She says, 'Yep the universe is pretty big. No its like hugely, mind- bogglingly big, you might think it's a long way to the video store, but that's just like peanuts to space and the universe.'"

"This sounds crazy."

"I know, I mean who goes to video stores anymore? Hello, people rent movies online."

"Good point," Kim smirked. "Please go on. I'm sorry I interrupted."

"So I'm like yeah I guess it's pretty big. She shakes her head and goes, 'No, you don't get it. See imagine that our entire Solar System were the size of a dime. Now think about our Sun and the nine planets being microscopic specks of dust on the flat side of that dime. You want to know how far away the nearest star to our sun is? The nearest star would be another coin, three football fields away!'"

"Wow, that's actually pretty fascinating."

"I know my mind was blown too KP! But she wasn't done, she gave her rubber ducky a little squeeze and said, 'And that's of course if you don't consider multiple universes and dimensions. If you put things in perspective, and realize how vast the universe is and how small some things are in the grand scheme of life, it kind of makes you wonder why people are stressing over insignificant things like a terrible cup of three dollar coffee, a missed flight, a bad over the phone customer service agent, or even a traffic jam."

"Hmmmm, so our daughter is basically saying don't sweat the small stuff?"

"Noo, she would never say anything that corny. Personally I think she's saying, acknowledge what you can't control and embrace the chaos."

"Embrace... the... chaos?" she said slowly, trying to grasp the concept.

"Yeah that's the way I see it. None of this stuff even matters in the long run. Well, expect for your fussy daughter, and her handsome charming father waiting for you at home."

With a broad smile on her face Kim said, "I didn't know such profound words could come from a two year old."

"She's a smart girl, no doubt. I wish I could take credit for that too. But there aren't too many genius limbs on the ol' Stoppable family tree."

"Hey, Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"You cheered me up, I really do feel better."

"Yeah well, Joanne took a nap this afternoon, as I was watching her sleep my mind started to wander-I guess it actually went somewhere useful this time. Anyway, I was just doing the supportive husband thing"

She could hear the blush in his voice, and it generated an adorable mental image.

"Ron, I think you deserve a treat when I get home."

"Oh man Kim, there's a new honey, vanilla, pistachio, chocolate mint swirl ice cream that just hit the market last week. I've been dying to taste it, so if you could stop by the grocery store and-"

"Actually," Kim interrupted. "I was thinking of a more _intimate_ treat."

"Oh...Oh!" Ron cleared his throat, "You know, I just realized we've been pretty busy lately."

"Too busy, a fact that I've become very aware of in the last minute and a half."

"Right, busy and tired, _one _of us gets tired _a lot_."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Remind me again who falls asleep with the baby in his arms whenever he gets the chance, including the night of our anniversary"

"And tired _we've_ both been very tired lately," Ron corrected.

"Comes with the baby territory."

"So what, we're talking you, me, bubble bath, and a bottle of champagne right?"

"Include a well fed and sleeping daughter and that sounds like a plan."

"Yeah, I'm gonna get working on that A.S. A.P"

"If you can pull that miracle off, we might have most of the night left to enjoy each other's company."

"Oh, I'll do it alright. I'll do it quickly and efficiently."

"Uh-huh," Kim replied with a grin. "Your seducing skills are a little rusty Ron, but like always I really do appreciate the enthusiasm."

**Current time line: Seven years after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Married; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R Libidinous (school word).**

* * *

**Word Games:**

He had come to his own conclusion about school during the first grade, and his current situation pretty much confirmed what he had known. Ron glanced covetously at the only tree in the entire school yard. Its precious shade was now the sole property of a massive, hard knuckled, big mouth, behemoth known as Joey Tagliabu. Joey rested comfortably in the shadow of the tree while the rest of the elementary school children had to deal with the arid playground.

How could they build a playground with one tree? Didn't the teachers plan for hot days? Didn't they understand that in the schoolyard it's the strong vs. the weak? If you didn't have enough balls, jump ropes or shade for everyone, only a select few individuals would be able to enjoy them. Yes it confirmed what he had already known; even at its funniest, school was downright terrible.

Ron decided then, as he stood in a line ten deep for the playground's only water fountain, that the second he became an adult, he'd be through with school forever. He couldn't wait; unfortunately he was only seven years old at the moment.

The line had lessened to nine when Kim came skipped over to him.

"Hey," she said.

That she had pranced casually across this heated playground simply stunned him. How could anyone be chipper in this heat? Was he the only one who realized the earth must be drifting closer to the sun?

"Hey," he replied.

"It's hot," she said while glancing about.

Ron looked her over, she was shifting from left to right on her feet and the light behind her eyes reminded him of the faint glow found in the tiny bulbs of Christmas tree lights.

Something was up.

"It's really hot," she muttered again before leaning forward. Taking her cue Ron leaned forward as well.

"Something happen?" he inquired.

"I heard something," she whispered conspiratorially to him.

"What?"

"I was over by the jungle gym and this kid said..." Kim stopped and looked over both her shoulder, "Um, he said the word '_&#$*_' really, really loudly."

Ron stared at her quietly for a moment. It was a curse word he knew that for sure. But the way she said it, so adult like. She didn't seem like a child at all; it was as if she had been familiar with the word her entire life and knew all its secrets. Ron found that he was a bit envious that Kim knew so much about something that he knew so little of. Well, actually she knew a lot of things he didn't, but those things were about school, that was knowledge he could probably live without. This however was serious mature stuff.

"Big deal," he said nonchalantly. "I've heard that word before."

"Really? Do you know what-that-word means?" Kim asked innocently. Her voice remained lowered conveying the fact that this was all on a need to know basis.

Aha! She didn't know what it meant. She wasn't as mature as he had feared. They were still on even ground. Of course he didn't know what it meant either, but he had heard the word before. And if he had to guess he was pretty sure it was what adults shouted out when something embarrassing or painful happened. The evidence of this was when he happened to see the mailman trip on the steps of his house or when his uncle accidentally smashed the fingers on his right hand when he was hammering a nail into a wall.

"What, you want to know what '_&#$' _means?"

"Ssh," Kim whispered while tugging on his arm. "Don't say it out loud. It's a bad word."

Ron snickered. "You don't know what it means, but you think it's a bad word?"

"So what does it mean?" Kim challenged.

"You know, it's like an adverb," Ron answered.

"What?" Kim asked with an arched eyebrow.

"An adverb, you know, it takes the place of a noun."

She shook her head. "That's not what an adverb is"

"How do you know?"

"We had to define it on that test last week" she stated.

"Oh yeah," Ron muttered. "I got that wrong."

There was a pause. A teacher rushed quickly across the playground to break up a nearby fight. The line for the water fountain was now down to five people.

Kim cocked her head and looked at him shrewdly. "You don't know what it means."

"Course I do." he replied with confidence.

"You're faking."

She met his gaze and he felt his conviction beginning to crumble.

"Alright fine, I don't know what it means either. We don't know what it means is because we're not grownups. There are words that only grownups use, and only grownups know."

Kim scratched at her elbow as she attempted to recall any and all words her parents had used that remained unfamiliar to her.

"Like mortgage or primaries," she said.

Ron nodded, "exactly"

"But those aren't bad words. That-word is a bad word. If a kid says that-word, they'll get in trouble."

He shrugged. "That's because when you're a kid you don't know how to use it right.

Kim regarded Ron skeptically. "So when you're a grownup, you'll know how and when to say that word so it'll be OK?"

"Yep, its great isn't it? When you're a grown up there will be no bullies, you don't have to go to school, if you need shade you can buy a tree, and if you want water you can buy that too. It'll be great, I can't wait. I wish I was grown up right now."

Finally arriving at the end of the line, Ron licked his lips in anticipation of the cool liquid quenching his enormous thirst. However before he could take a step towards the fountain Joey, "I am the biggest sixth grader you've ever seen," Tagliabu suddenly appeared beside him. Effortlessly Joey shoved Ron aside, knocking him to the ground, and taking his place in line.

"Hey what the _&#$_!" Ron cried out loud.

The second the words had escaped from his lips, any and all activity in the playground came do a sudden stop. All heads, all eyes, turned toward to Ron, and he could only squirm in the spotlight. Though each child in the vicinity had found the sudden appearance of the word in their lives thrilling, no one uttered a single peep. One reason for the deep silence that came over the playground was that most of the students were waiting with bated breath to see if Ron had anything else hilarious to share. Another reason was that the man, who practically all the students agreed was the meanest teacher in the school, had suddenly materialized behind him.

"What did you say?" the teacher shouted.

"He got pushed," Kim exclaimed.

The teacher ignored Kim's plea. "What did you say young man!"

"I-uh-I," Ron stammered.

Kim watched as the Ron fidgeted on the ground. She noted the pained tremor in his voice. Ron wouldn't be able to defend himself when he was like this. She had to do something, but what? Thinking quickly, she recalled their conversation.

"He said _&#$" _Kim announced matter-of-factly. Then she ran her hands across her chin, imitating her father whenever he talked to the neighbors about, "housing markets" or "zoning violations."

The teacher's head snapped quickly towards Kim

"It's alright," she continued. "We were trying to find out if the word was an adverb or an interjection."

She placed her right hand on her hip as she had seen her mother do on occasion. "I think it's clear that what we're looking at here is an interjection."

Before long they were both hauled off the playground, and they found themselves seated in the uncomfortable chairs outside of the principal's office. The principal had called up their parents and now they were being forced to wait in silence for their fate to be decided.

"I really thought your plan was going to work. You sounded very adult," Ron whispered.

Kim grinned at the compliment. "Thanks, but that teacher didn't think so."

He sighed, "You didn't have to try and help. It was my fault I got in trouble."

"I didn't have to, but I wanted to. You're my best friend" Kim replied as she shifted in the uncomfortable chair.

"Oh, OK" Ron said softly as he watched her reposition herself.

She suddenly turned to him. "Hey when we're grownups, do we really have to say that word? Because I don't really like it."

"We don't have to say it, we just could if we wanted too," he told her.

"I don't think I want to say it. There are probably lots of other words to say anyway."

Ron nodded; she did make a good point.

Suddenly a flash of excitement came over Kim's face. "Why don't we make up our own words?"

There was a lull, as Ron allowed her words to settle in. Their own words? Why had it taken them this long to think of something like that?

"That sounds, that really sounds...um"

Kim leaned back in her seat, "Spankin?"

**Current time line: Nine years before the Junior Prom; Current Status: Best Friend; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R Inspired**

**

* * *

****An affair to remember: **

This was crazy. It was early January, it was ridiculously cold, the roads were layered with dirty snow and she was three months pregnant. So why was she out here in the streets?

Ah yes, she had gotten mad at Ron and stormed out of their apartment. Since then, she'd spent the better part of a half hour trudging against the freezing wind. She tried to remember exactly what she had been infuriated about, but nothing specific came to mind. It was simply a perfect storm of issues that had come to a head.

Or, Kim thought as she replayed the scene back at home in her mind, she had been caught up in the midst of a bout of temporary insanity. If she only judged by the surprised look on Ron's face as she slipped on her coat, before she had left the house, then she could safely say she had possibly succumbed to a case of "crazy pregnant lady."

Deflated, Kim kicked at the ground. Of course, now she was upset with herself. Was it that hard to limit one's emotional outbursts to perhaps every other week? How could she face him after this latest mess? What would she say? "Hey Ron, I'm sorry for being nuts when you least expect it!" She needed to get it together before Ron realized he was better off without her baggage. And could she blame him if he left? No. He'd leave and never look back, then she'd be alone and scared.

"Excuse me, miss"

Kim swiped at her tears with one sleeve before turning briskly towards the sound of the voice.

"I was walking by and I saw you standing here, and I thought to myself, there's no way such a pretty lady should be standing out here in the cold, with such a sad look on her face."

Ron stepped up beside Kim with a gentle smile upon his face.

"So then I said to myself Mike, maybe you should invite her to lunch."

"Mike?" Kim asked.

Ron extended out his hand. "Hey I'm Mike, I'm a fireman. People call me Mike the fireman"

Kim studied Ron's face for a moment then she seemed to be trying not to laugh. "Ah, well. Mike I'm...Joanne, I'm a stand-up comedienne."

Ron jutted out his jaw and slowly nodded his head. "So Joanne the stand-up comedienne, we're strangers bumping into each other on a cold winter day. Sounds like fate don'tcha think?"

"Sorry, Mike" Kim patted the bulge in her midsection. "I'm sort of in a committed thing"

"Ah that's cool; I don't need another long term relationship. I'm actually looking for like a summer type thing."

A single snow plow drifted by slowly in the street, it shoved a large pile of dirty snow up against the sidewalk. Some light snow drifted down from the air and landed on Kim's hair.

"A summer type thing huh?" she chuckled.

He nodded, "Yeah y'know like a summer fling. And if you ask me, I think we have a little connection going on here."

"Connection?" She asked, enjoying the game.

"What? Don't you believe in love at first sight?"

"I do, but I prefer a slow progression of romantic feelings. Judging from personal experience it seems that moving from friendship to romances builds a pretty good foundation."

"That sounds really technical," Ron pouted. "So how long are we talking about here?"

"I don't know, maybe twelve years give or take?"

Ron whistled to himself. "That's a little old fashioned; personally I don't think I have the time. So what about lust at first sight?" he paused for dramatic effect, then went in for the kill. "Does that do anything for ya?"

"I don't think your wife would appreciate this line of questioning," Kim remarked.

Mock surprise washed over Ron's face. "How did you know I was married?"

She pointed at his right hand, "The ring kind of gave it away."

"Oh right, the old ball and chain." Ron said as he lifted his finger up to his eyes, "I mean yeah she's gorgeous and she's my best friend. Yeah, I'm still in love with her, but sometimes a man needs more than everything he might ever need. Did you ever see the movie 'Same Time Next Year'? Maybe a nice mature and discreet affair can lift the spirits, you know how it is, you've got a ring yourself-"

Kim glanced down at her hand.

"-But you're out here alone in the cold."

"Well my husband and I…..we had a fight," she said as she traced her fingers along her ring.

Ron sighed through his nose. He was very melancholy. "That husband of yours must have been a real jerk, to force his wife out into this kind of weather."

Kim stood there, swaying in the cold breeze. "No it's not his fault. Every now and then I start feeling blue, for the lack of a better word. I kind of assumed I would have a lovely pregnancy and be one of these women who blooms and feels just perfect. Instead, I am anxious about a lot of things-"

She then laughed nervously "-including my ever expanding belly."

Biting down on his lips Ron said, "Maybe you um, regret the uh…..maybe you have regrets"

"No, no" she declared. Then her gaze fell to the ground.

"God, no, I don't regret anything at all. Sometimes I just feel scared, and that's so unusual for me, a little out of character. Then I feel very guilty about these feelings and that just leads to me crying...My husband is very supportive and that helps a lot. But I just can't help the way I feel times, and I don't know how long it'll last. Sometimes I'm just-I don't know."

Kim looked at Ron again, her eyes bright and quite serious. "I just hope he knows, that I still do love him very much and I don't want to lose him."

"Lose him?" Ron exhaled. "I'm willing to bet, not only does he know this, but he probably loves you so much, that he can't, he can't-he doesn't he even know how to express it with words..."

Ron cut the distance between them, leaned in ad kissed her, lightly. His fingertips then brushed a few tears from her cheek.

"Your husband sounds like he's a sucker for love. And he's in for the long haul, for better or for worse, through thick and thin, and all the other clichés. Because really, he can't see himself with anyone else."

He kissed her again this time harder, and her belly pressed up against his.

"I do love my husband, but I've always wanted to kiss a real life fire fighter" Kim grinned against Ron's lips.

Ron broke the kiss with a chuckle. "By the way Joanne is a much better name than generic Mike. You came up with it so quickly it almost through me off. Ah well I always did dig the kind of lady that could think on her feet."

Kim brushed her some strands of hair away from her face. "Well actually that name has been on my mind for awhile now..."

**Current time line: Five years after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Married; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R Expecting**

* * *

A/N Hopefully you liked it. Tried to hit a couple of emotional ranges there lol. Not sure if I succeeded but hey read and review, tell me what you think.


	6. Convo 6

A/N

Nope I'm not dead. I still live. And I still have KP contributions to give. Took me awhile to get back into KP mode so time for some baby steps. **  
**

* * *

**It's a trap!**

A frown came to Kim's face as she took note of her reflection in the elongated mirror that hung over the dresser. Her mind wandered back to earlier that evening, when she and Ron had gone on what he called their un-retirement mission. This was incidentally their second un-retirement mission, which Kim found pretty amusing. For obvious reasons during their first two years as parents missions had fallen pretty low on Kim and Ron's priorities list. Some might argue the irresponsible nature of dodging laser beams when a little girl was waiting at home with Ron's sister, but it seemed Kim couldn't deny herself the occasional thrill of a good adventure. But with all that said, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had been moving at a much slower pace than she had the last time she was out on an adventure.

She cupped the sides of her stomach with both hands and sighed. _OK the late night snacks were fine when you were pregnant but…you haven't been pregnant for a while now Kim._

She glanced up at the mirror just in time to see Ron wander into the bedroom.

"I can't believe villains are still using abandoned amusement parks as hideouts. Come on, what was Hank thinking? I mean were the robot guards running on MS-DOS? "

"Hey Ron," Kim said without turning to face him. "Tell me the truth; does this mission gear make me look fat?"

_Fat… Now?_

Ron briefly wondered if Kim recalled how she looked during her pregnancy. But having been known to, "Think out loud," at inappropriate moments he quickly suppressed the thought.

"KP, you know those fun house mirrors are supposed to make you look all wonky. Right?"

"I've been in front of a fun-house mirror before, but I don't remember one ever making me look that wonky. So be honest, do I look fat?"

Ron quickly cut the distance between them. Moving deftly he wrapped his arm around his wife's waist and drew her close.

"Hmmm… feels just as right as it did in high school. I've got no complaints." He leaned over and placed a light kiss on Kim's forehead.

She threw him a grin; "That's a good answer."

Ron shook his head. "That, KP, was not a good answer. It was a great answer! One that I have been working on since the day we got married."

Kim stared blankly at him. "Huh?"

"At first I thought to myself it's just an old joke; wives don't _really_ ask that. But could I risk getting caught off guard? Nope, I promised myself if I got anything right as a husband, at the very least I would have to get that right."

"OK. Hold on, let me process this," Kim said placing her hand in the air. "This is something you've been worrying about since the day we got m-married?"

"This exact scenario is number six on my top ten list-of husbandly fears. It comes in right below balding but above figuring out how to file a joint income tax return. Speaking of which, I'm telling you KP, it's not a conspiracy theory, they don't want us to understand how it works…"

Kim placed her hands on both sides of Ron's face. "We agreed the taxation without representation speech would only come out in April. Right now I need to understand something. Are you telling me you've been prepping yourself for a single question since the day of our wedding? "

"I haven't prepped that hard since the S.A.T. Although this was more like a trick question than an actual test… but I still nailed it!"

"But that wasn't a trick question," Kim proclaimed.

With eyebrows furrowed Ron said. "So what would you call it?"

She took a moment to reflect. "In hindsight I can see where some people may interpret it as a loaded question—"

"By people, you mean _men_."

"-But it's still essentially just a wife asking for her husband's honest opinion. It's not really a trick question at all."

"So what you're saying is you admit that it was a test?"

Kim closed her eyes and quickly reopened them. "Even if it was a test, and I'm not saying it was. Telling me that you've prepared the answer beforehand doesn't really give me a lot of confidence in its sincerity."

Ron grinned broadly as he pulled his face from his wife's hands. "You've got it all wrong, KP. See if I hadn't prepared myself I would have been blindsided by your question and left with two options." He held up two fingers from his right hand for emphasis.

"Option A is try and guess what would make you feel good. Option B would have been to tell you the plain truth. Now option A would have been completely situational; in this case my mind would have worked like this: "Why does she think she's fat? -I don't think she's fat-but if she thinks she's fat and she's asking about it that must mean she has gained weight"

Making sure Kim was still with him; Ron continued his, "presentation," hoping he wasn't going to have to break out the flow charts.

"But, I can't tell-still she wouldn't have asked unless she already knows she's gained weight and wants me to confirm it-unless she's insane- but I don't think she's insane-so she must have gained weight and if she has and I say she hasn't she'll know I'm lying." So thinking of something to try to make you feel better I probably would have said "A little extra weight looks good on you."

Kim cringed, "Ooo that would have been a problem."

"Of course it would have been. That's why I prepared to avoid that," came his response with a slight smile.

Crossing her arms over her chest Kim said, "So what was wrong with option "B" the plain truth, which is exactly what I was asking for?"

"Option "B" would have been me, after a long pause to choose my words carefully, eventually saying, "No, of course not. You look fine," and then quickly leaving the room to avoid further questions. Option "B" is the standard answer a husband gives to avoid sleeping on the couch. And that is exactly why you would have never believed option B even if I were telling the truth. And I would be telling the truth but you would think I'm just trying to avoid trouble. Also, Option 'B' was the reason my Dad insisted we buy the seven-foot couch, not the six. He was guessing I would have gotten the answer wrong."

Ron drew in a deep breath. "And that's why through preparation and research, I discovered option C which is telling the truth confidently and with charm."

He wrapped both arms around Kim's waist and pulled her close.

"So if I do _this_ and say something like 'I think you're as beautiful now as you've ever been.' I'm not just telling you the truth; I'm proving it. The proof is what reassures the insecure wife."

Kim smiled as a fresh blush spread on her face. "Alright, fine-you win."

"You believe me. Right?"

"I do."

"So I nailed it—the reassuring the wife thing?"

"Yes you did."

"Two nails in less than five minutes, that's got to be a husbandly record."

"Alright tell me this smart guy. What did you think of Hank's busty evil secretary?"

Ron held Kim's gaze and said, "Who?" with a look of confusion.

"The records now at three" Kim chuckled pressing her lips against his. "Let's see if you can go for four"

**Current time line: Nine years after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Married; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R Amorous**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Knowing is half the battle: **

"Math? You're talking about math at a time like this?"

Kim and Ron stepped hard on their bike peddles as they made their way up what had to have been one of the steepest hills in Middleton.

"Yes I am," Kim huffed.

"Why?"

"Because we have a test tomorrow, did you forget about that? It's the final exam!" Kim shouted at him.

"Yeah, I think I have something more important to do; like completing my list."

"Fine," Kim sighed. "Can we at least take a break? We've been riding like forever."

Ron shook his head. "No time, KP, we're already behind schedule we need to hit this mall before sundown."

"And why are we going to the mall at the edge of town?"

"Because it's the only mall that has a gigantic floor piano like in that movie, 'Huge'. I ran into it last year when I was Christmas shopping with my dad but I never got a chance to use it. I've always wanted to play one of those."

"You know the mall is going be here on the weekend."

"There's no guarantee of that, Kim. Heck, there's no guarantee we'll be here this weekend."

"Ron, I think you're taking this list thing a little too seriously!"

"Too seriously?" Ron asked after a quick glance at his best friend. "It's a bucket list, KP, its things I _gotta_ do before I die."

"Ron! You're twelve years old!"

"And I don't know if I'll live to be thirteen; got to do as much as I can before time runs out."

"Bucket lists are for people who are going to die!"

"You mean like everyone!"

"You know what I'm saying." Kim drifted to her left; bringing her bike right up beside Ron's.

"Listen, we can talk about this if you want."

"Talk-about what?" Ron kept his gaze on the road.

"Y'know... your grandmother."

"Why would we talk about my grandmother?" Ron muttered.

"I'm just saying-"

"The funeral was two weeks ago," Ron interjected.

"I know but—"

"What's there to talk about two weeks later?"

Before Kim could say anything more Ron peddled faster taking the lead.

"Hurry up we don't have much time!" He called out without turning around.

Silently they zipped down the other side of the hill. Riding hard they covered a number of blocks in a matter of moments, and then cut through the parking lot leading into the East County Mall. They skidded to a stop before the main entrance only to find the gates down over the glass doors.

"What...?" Ron sputtered as he unstrapped his helmet.

Kim shrugged. "There's a piece of paper taped to the gate."

She climbed off the bike and approached the notice.

"Due to a water main break all stores will be closed for the rest of the week," she read aloud.

"The rest of the week? I could get hit by a meteor on my way back home!"

Kim turned to him. "Ron, don't freak."

"I'm not freaking!" He said as he took the helmet off his head, raised it up, and slammed it down as hard as he possibly could.

Unfortunately instead of shattering on the ground into thousands of little pieces, the helmet decided to bounce straight up and strike him in the face. Ron felt a brief flash of pain before everything went dark.

He regained consciousness to the soft feel of Kim's fingertips as she massaged the base of his forehead.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I freaked, didn't I?"

"Big time."

"What happened after-?"

"After the helmet hit you in the face, you fell off your bike and hit your head."

"Is the mall still closed?"

"Yep."

"I was hoping I'd get my list done before the week ended."

Kim rolled her eyes "Safe to say adulthood wasn't anywhere on your list right?"

Groaning softly Ron sat upright. "The list was mostly made up of stuff that I could get done quickly and without crossing a highway."

He looked sheepishly in Kim's direction. "I guess it is a pretty lame list."

"You don't need a bucket-list, Ron."

A long silence fell between them, filled only with the comings and goings of nearby traffic.

"You don't understand. I need to play that piano. I need to finish the list. My grandmother she had a list and she never really got a chance to finish…"

Ron stopped and looked over at Kim, to see that she was watching him quietly yet somehow staring at him expectedly.

He ran his right hand across his face. "At the funeral my mom pulls me to the side and gives me a, 'We're a part of the universe, everything happens for a reason,' speech. But all I could think of was just how completely unfair it is. I mean my grandmother died because she was old. She never asked to be old; it's not like you can go on a diet to be less old. You're getting old as soon as your born, how is that fair? And she never got to finish her list."

He paused, and for a moment looked as if he had forgotten exactly what he would say next.

Clearing his throat he started up once again. "I didn't think my mom was lying to me, at least a part of me believed her about the universe, about life being amazing and cool. But the other part of me thinks maybe its just constant unfairness that never stops. Which part of me do you think is right, KP?"

"Umm... maybe life is a bit of both?" Kim said shrugging her shoulders, unsure of her answer.

Ron offered her a weary look.

"I don't really know, Ron." Kim said quickly. "I don't think there's a real answer to that kind of question or maybe no one _really_ knows for sure the answer to that kind of question."

Ron threw his hands up in the air. "How could no one know? We've been around for thousands of years; people have been to the moon, KP! It's the only question worth asking! What other answer is worth knowing! It has to be the first serious question that ever popped into a caveman's head! Who cares about a math test? How about the question to the life test? Someone needs to tell me… Why was my grandmother born to die, why was I born to feel bad about that? Why didn't she get a chance to finish her list?"

Kim said nothing as she took hold of his elbow and leaning her head onto his shoulder.

Ron eyed the mass of red hair brushing against his cheek for some time. He turned away briefly before eventually tilting his head slightly and placing his cheek against the top of Kim's head.

"This isn't an answer KP. This is more like a gesture."

"I don't really know what to say."

"That's fine. You're right though, we don't really know anything do we?"

"Well, we know that you loved your grandmother and she loved you."

There was a moment of silence before a trail of hot tears spilled onto Ron's cheeks. He started to speak but a soft sob escaped from his lips instead. He then brought his forearm up to his face shielding his eyes. His shoulders heaved, and his breath quickened but for most part, he kept his crying quiet. Eventually he regained control and drew in a series of deep breaths. Silently he pulled away from Kim and climbed up to his feet.

"I'm OK… Let's just go home."

"Are you feeling better?" Kim said standing up.

"I'm still pretty sad I think." A half smile formed on his face, "But we've got a math test to study for."

The two friends strolled over to their bikes, strapped on their helmets and prepared to peddle away from the mall.

"What's on the test anyway?" Ron asked.

"Exponents," Kim replied

Ron groaned loudly. "You plus me, KP. That's the only kind of math I'm ever gonna like."

**Current time line: Four years before the Junior Prom; Current Status: Best Friends Forever; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R** **Bittersweet**

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**

**Strange-love:**

The choppy waves pitched the tiny lifeboat like a bucking bronco, as it skimmed across the ocean's surface. Unconcerned Kim stretched herself out while stifling a tired yawn. She glanced over at Ron who sat at the opposite end of the lifeboat with a sleeping Rufus on his lap.

"Wade's about an hour and a half late with that rescue plane. "

"It's been over an hour already?"

Kim nodded. "You know, I really don't remember the last time I was this bored."

Ron massaged the base of Rufus' neck and the naked-mole rat purred in his sleep. "Eh, besides the whole moving island thing we just escaped from; it's been a pretty slow week overall."

"Yeah," Kim replied listlessly.

She stared off into the ocean. "I'm thinking about getting new drapes for the windows in my room."

Ron's eyes immediately glazed over. "Does boyfriend etiquette require me to help pick out a color?"

"Boyfriend etiquette would require you asking that, without sighing so heavily," She shot back. "Anyway I've already picked out a color."

"I'm going to guess purple."

Kim shook her head. "Close but no cigar, its lavender."

"Lavender," Ron repeated. "How weird is it when a word is a color and a smell?"

Eyebrow already arched, Kim turned away from the ocean. "What?"

"Yeah, there's the shade of color lavender, right? And when someone says that something smells like lavender you know exactly what they're talking about. Not many words can say that… It kind of bugs me a little."

"It bugs you?"

"It's tres bizarre," Ron said matter-of-factly as he scratched behind Rufus' ear.

"What's so bizarre about it?"

He shrugged. "The word can be used to describe a color and a smell KP. Who decided that they needed to use lavender for two separate things when there are tons of other words available?"

Kim licked her dry lips. "It's all based on the flower, Ron."

He shrugged again, "I'm just saying."

"I'm going to assume there are other words that bother you in the same way."

"Orange, but that's not nowhere near as annoying as lavender," Ron replied quickly.

"Yeah," Kim nodded. "You're right orange…..color and smell…name another one?""

"Mint."

"I'll give you the smell, but the color doesn't count. Mint is just green."

"Actually there's mint green _and_ the standalone color mint. I thought girls knew everything there is to know about colors."

"That's a stereotype."

Ron shrugged for a third time. "At least it's not a negative one."

Kim leaned back and propped her feet up on the sides of the boat. She chuckled softly as she stared up at the crystal blue sky.

"I think that was the strangest conversation we've ever had."

"Huh?" Ron said looking up from Rufus.

"This conversation was the weirdest one we've ever had since we've known each other."

Ron ran his hand across the back of his neck. "We've known each other since Pre-K."

"And that's what makes this so impressive," she smiled.

"I-I'm not sure we've had that many strange conversations."

"We've had plenty," Kim replied fairly swiftly.

"Really? You sure that's not an exaggeration."

"More than our fair share." Kim stated.

Ron reflected quietly for a long time. "I don't see what was so strange about that conversation."

"Well, the topic was odd and random enough. But it wasn't just that. It's a cloudless sky, the glare off the ocean is blinding, and the boat is moving beneath us like it's a living creature. This whole situation is kind of surreal."

Ron gave her a skeptical gaze. "We're stranded in the ocean after escaping a moving island filled with genetically engineered cyborg dinosaurs. Stuff like this happens to us all the time."

"I'm not going question it, Ron. I'm just going to appreciate the atmosphere."

Hearing this Ron quickly glanced over both soldiers, silently confirming that they were still indeed alone in the middle of the ocean.

"So you're saying there's like… a mood?"

"There's an _atmosphere,_ yes."

"Maybe it could be like a… making out type of atmosphere?"

Kim shot him an amused look, "Flattered, but no this isn't a 'making out' kind of atmosphere."

"We could turn it into that."

She answered him with a sigh.

"What? I like kissing, excuse me for being a romantic," Ron pointed out.

"Ron some atmospheres are for making out; some of them are just enjoyable moments. But good atmospheres are the kind of stuff relationships are made out of."

Ron scooped the dozing Rufus out of his lap and placed him in his pocket. "A _relationship_, that's a pretty adult label. You're saying we're not just boyfriend and girlfriend, we're in a _relationship?_"

"Um, yeah, I would call it a relationship," Kim said with a slight hint of hesitation in her voice. "Wouldn't you?"

"If I didn't then, I definitely do now."

Kim smiled brightly at him. "A relationship, filled with moods, atmospheres, and conversations. Some of if it strange."

With his arms open wide Ron said, "So is this something we celebrate? Do we have anniversaries for the strange conversations?"

"Ron it's not a big deal. It was just an observation."

"How can we keep dating with you keeping tabs on strange conversations? It's going to put me on edge."

"Chillax, Ron, it's not a negative thing so there's nothing to worry about."

"You sure?"

"Trust me, it's all positive."

Appeased Ron settled back into a more comfortable seating position. "Wait a minute. What's stranger, the conversation or the person who enjoys it?"

**Current time line: Seven months after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Super Serious couple; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K Content R Confused.**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Baby Blues: **

For a while the Stoppables just stared at the ceiling. Kim reached up as if to catch something in the air and then let her hand drop back down slowly. She began massaging her eyelids as Ron spent the next thirty seconds cracking his knuckles. Kim then drummed her fingers along her stomach while Ron stretched beside her. This was then followed by a simultaneous sigh between the two that stretched well past the normal range of a few seconds.

Ron turned to Kim, "That's a heavy sigh KP."

"It's the sigh of a very tired woman."

"Tired? Why would you be tired? Not getting enough sleep?" Ron remarked with the sarcasm noticeably heavy in his voice.

"Sleep? Such a thing can't exist when your child is waking up and crying every hour on the hour."

Ron slowly turned his head to the baby monitor on the nightstand beside his bed. "She's like the radio traffic report."

"What time is it now?" Kim asked.

"Five to three."

"So if we're following tonight's regular pattern she'll be up in five."

If Ron had to guess, neither of them had gotten more than three hours sleep at night in the past week. But he had always been a bad guesser. So he wasn't exactly sure how much sleep they had really gotten, he only knew that it wasn't nearly enough.

"KP, did you see the Leprechaun that just scrambled past the foot of our bed?"

"I'm pretty sure that you're hallucinating Ron."

Ron vigorously rubbed down both his eyes before lying back down beside his wife.

"I thought newborns were supposed to sleep a lot."

"Normally twelve to sixteen hours a day by the time they're a month old. But most babies don't stay asleep for more than two to four hours at a time, day or night, during the first few weeks of life."

"Our daughter doesn't seem to care much about statistics." He yawned, "I probably shouldn't have given her the never be normal talk."

"I would have waited until pre-k," Kim said.

"Well at least we know she's a trend setter not a trend follower. That's pretty cool."

Ron looked to see if he had gotten a smile out of his wife. Bur she stared back him with bloodshot eyes. "Ron, we're not going to get any sleep tonight are we?"

"Maybe not tonight," he said sadly.

"So I suppose we'll just stare at the ceiling in between her crying fits."

"Well maybe we could participate in intimate activities. We are married after all."

"You plan on involving me in these activities?"

"Seems like the polite thing to do."

Kim attempted to reach over to her husband but her arm landed listlessly in the space between them. Ron, who had started reaching over a second after Kim, had his arm land an inch beside hers. Gritting his teeth Ron made a concentrated effort to place his arm over Kim's. He then managed to intertwine their fingers.

"Well it's nice to know at least the passion hasn't gone out of the marriage," Kim commented a moment later.

"Was it good for you?" Came his reply.

"Better than the night of our honeymoon."

With a grunt Ron suddenly sat upright. "You know we both don't have to check on her this time. Maybe one of us gets her back to sleep and the other can try and get some shut-eye."

"So who goes?" Kim asked.

"Let's flip a coin." Ron searched the nightstand until he came up with a nickel.

"Heads or tails?"

"Heads," Kim called out.

Ron flipped it, although he did so with more force than his tired mind had expected. It spun through the air hit the wall behind them and slid past the bedpost.

"That seems about right," Ron sighed.

"It's heads," Kim stated.

"How do you know?"

"Mother's intuition."

Ron glared at Kim. "When did that start kicking in? It's barely been a month."

"It instantaneous, it starts kicking in the second a woman becomes a mother."

"Fine, then my fatherly intuition is telling me that it's tails."

"There's no such thing as fatherly intuition," Kim countered.

"Oh it exists, and it forged from the flames of stress. And when it comes to stress KP, right now I'm at Defcon one."

It was Kim's turn to sit up quickly. "Oh you think this is stressful? Try the equivalent of pushing a bowling ball through your nose for twelve hours and then come talk to me about stress!"

"Like that's my fault! Maybe I would have tried but nature didn't really give me much of a choice."

She pointed at him. "You don't respect my motherhood."

He pointed right back at her. "It's you who doesn't respect my fatherhood."

"Don't be stupid."

"Hey, don't call me stupid."

"I didn't say you are stupid Ron. I said 'don't be stupid.' I am suggesting you do not steer yourself into a situation that might be considered stupid!"

Ron glowered at her. "You snore."

Kim was taken aback. "I do not snore!"

"Either you snore or there's a lawnmower sneaking in here at night."

"You bite in your sleep," Kim said through narrow eyes.

"What? You're making that up. No one bites in their sleep!"

"Either you bite in your sleep or Dracula has been sneaking in here and spooning me for the last few years!"

Ron threw his pillow at his wife. "You can't go two months with changing the drapes…Enough with the drapes already! No one cares!"

Kim threw her pillow at her husband. "You watch too much television."

"You, don't watch enough!"

Abruptly Kim placed her hand on Ron's mouth. "Shhh! Shhh! Do you_ hear_ that?"

Ron pulled away, "What our marriage falling apart?"

"No, listen to that… _Silence_."

"How do you listen to silence… Silence?"

In unison the eyes of both husband and wife cut from the baby monitor on the nightstand to the alarm clock besides it. The clock read 3:05, they glanced back at the monitor but it remained silent, their eyes went back to the clock and it now read 3:06.

They bolted out of the bedroom.

"Did you put fresh batteries in the monitor?" Kim asked as they crossed the hallway in quick spurts.

"Yes, and they weren't the cheap kind, they were the really expensive long lasting kind."

The panicked parents entered their baby's bedroom and made a beeline for the crib. They gazed down at Joanna's sleeping form. The baby slept peacefully, looking soft and tiny, so content, so unaware of the palpable fear that had been pouring from her parents.

"She's sleeping" Kim said.

"Still?" Ron muttered.

"She looks like she's fine."

"Let's wake her up and check for sure," Ron reached into the crib.

"No, Ron." Kim said softly as she stopped his arms. "She's supposed to be asleep."

Ron blinked at her a few times before backing away from the crib. "Yeah, she's supposed to be asleep. This, this is good."

"This is very good," Kim declared.

Ron let out a sigh of relief. "When she was waking up and crying, I didn't know what was wrong-"

"Me either—"

"—I was starting to freak out."

"Yeah, I was freaking too" Kim admitted.

"And then the silence…" Ron cut himself off as he glanced back at the crib. "But she's fine… and she's beautiful."

"She really is."

Teary eyed, husband and wife exchanged smiles.

"Listen, KP, I'm sorry about the stuff I said earlier."

"I shouldn't have ever called you stupid."

"Nah, you didn't call me stupid. You suggested I not steer myself into a situation that might be considered stupid."

Smiling brightly Kim took Ron by the hand. "Let's go to bed."

She headed for the door, and Ron followed briefly losing his footing on misplaced baby blocks. Exhausted the rookie parents walked back to their bedroom and eased into bed. They returned to their previous positions, laying side by side eyes again on the ceiling.

"We're good parents," Ron blurted out.

"So far…"

"KP, I know in my heart we're going to be just fine."

Kim scooted herself closer and Ron instinctively took her in his arms. She cuddled against him, sleep starting to slowly creep over her. Ron kissed her on the forehead and ran his fingers along her back.

She sighed as she nuzzled against his chest.

"That's a heavy sigh," Ron said.

"It's the sigh of a very tired-but very happy woman."

**Current time line: Six years after the Junior Prom; Current Status: Married; Current mood/feelings/state of mind: K&R Restful**

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A/N I'm not entirely sure I've totally got my KP legs. But I'll get there. Thanks for dropping by after all this time**, **read and review. **  
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